Last week a Peace Now report was released stating that their were 285,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria (and not including East Jerusalem which pushes the number closer to 500,000).

The report indicated a sharp increase in Jewish residents.

While this Peace Now report would normally be considered good news, there is even better news.

Right afterward, the Ministry of the Interior released their numbers, and they are even better, with 297,745 Jews living in Judea and Samaria, and over 550,000 if you include East Jerusalem.

Amana (which assists residents trying to buy housing in Judea and Samaria) says the number has already surpassed 300,000.

During Olmert's terms (since 2006) we saw an increase/influx of some 45-50,000 Jews, and new construction was up 43.1% in just 3 years (in Little Israel new construction was down 6.9%). There hasn't been such a jump since 1967. (You might even be tempted to say that Olmert was good for Judea and Samaria).

Furthermore in 2007 (no data yet for 2008), 59,861 Arabs took a positive step to creating Peace in the Middle East, by permanently moving away to live in other countries. It is presumed that even larger numbers left the West Bank in 2008.

Since 2005, 25,000 Arabs permanently left Gaza (3 times the amount of Settlers expelled in 2005), but since closing the passageway none have been able to escape to better living conditions.

Certainly this is a positive indicator that Benny Elon's "Right Road to Peace" is on the right track, and if we want real peace in the Middle East, all the money being wasted right now (the Wall, UNRWA, etc.) should be given to the Palestinians to relocate instead of perpetuating them as refugees.