Now, just where are these homes?  In one of the so-called settlement blocs?  Somewhere near the Green Line?  Outside Jerusalem?  Nope.  They are in Talmon, which is a small settlement (around 180 families, according to the settlement's own website) located 10.5 km from the Green Line, just north of Ramallah, and located far outside the route of the barrier.

Actions speak so much louder than words here -- it is just so hard to see how tripling the size of a small settlement located east of the barrier can be viewed as a sign of Israeli seriousness about peace.

And it is even harder to see how even the most generous definition of "natural growth" could justify such construction.  Again, according to the settlement's website, Talmon was established in 1994 (post-Olso - though the settlement was actually officially established in 1989).  This means that kids born in Talmon are at most around 15 years old.  So unless teen marriages and teen pregnancies are the norm in Talmon, there is simply no way to make the argument that this construction is necessary, even to meet the "natural" needs of the settlement.

Rather, Barak's action seems more consistent with the settlers' recent words, to the effect that a settlement freeze must be resisted, since the settlement enterprise is nearly at the point of irreversibility (where settlements will permanently block the establishment of a Palestinian state).  For anyone who missed this important item in yesterday's APN Middle East Peace Report, here is the relevant excerpt:

Building Settlements to Stop Peace: Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conditioned acceptance of a future Palestinian state, West Bank settlers reportedly intend to dramatically increase the pace of settlement construction for the express purpose of thwarting a two-state solution.

On Sunday, the plenary of the settlers' Yesha Council met to discuss how to confront demands for a settlement freeze. The members "made various suggestions for aggressive actions" according to a report by the settlers' Arutz 7 web site. Yesha Council members reportedly suggested continuing construction "throughout the settlement enterprise." They also objected to negotiations with the Israeli government over a deal to peacefully remove settlement outposts built in violation of Israeli law. In addition, the settlers' council members suggested creating an "educational lobby" in Israel and the U.S.

A statement posted on the Yesha Council's website explains the alarm. After admonishing Netanyahu for accepting the principle of a Palestinian state, it says: "At the end of the day, what will determine whether there is a Palestinian state - God forbid - whether the land will be divided - God forbid - is construction in Judea and Samaria, the continued development, the broadening and the entrenchment of the settlement enterprise."

The statement continues: "We must demand that Netanyahu cash the check that he presented in his speech, when he said that normal life must continue in Judea and Samaria. Normal life means construction. Normal life means infusing new blood. Normal life means natural development - not just natural growth but natural development of the settlements in Judea and Samaria. This is now the big test of Benjamin Netanyahu. If he will avoid approving significant, massive construction permits in Judea and Samaria, that will mean that he is indeed inducing the creation of a Palestinian state, demilitarized or not."

The Yesha Council's statement concludes that nothing "brings closer the creation of a Palestinian state and the division of the land than freezing construction in Judea and Samaria. Freezing causes, God forbid, the weakening of the settlements. Therefore, it is the pivotal test not only of Benjamin Netanyahu but of other members of the ruling coalition, who pledged their allegiance to the land of Israel."

Columnist Hagai Segal, an ideological leader of the settlers' movement - who served a jail sentence for his role in assassinating Palestinian mayors in 1980 - wrote Friday in Makor Rishon-Hatzofe that the battle now is over the "point of irreversibility," the point at which settlements make it impossible to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank. The Obama administration, he argues, recognizes that "the settlement enterprise is very close to the point of irreversibility, which is why this is where most of the energy should be invested."

Segal adds that if anyone inside Israel "wonders what he can do now to save Israel from a Palestinian state, the answer is to move to Judea and Samaria. It will not be so easy, because Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak are not going to sign construction permits wholesale, but almost every veteran settlement still has an unrealized reservoir" of licensed structures. Segal concludes, "one more energetic effort, several more percentages of natural - or not so natural - growth, and uprooting settlements will be removed from the agenda."  (Arutz 7, 6/21/09; www.myesha.org.il, 6/21/09; Makor Rishon-Hatzofe, 6/19/09)

Update:  To add insult to injury, it appears that some or all of the new construction is in an outpost that even Israel considers illegal.  According to Bimkom, an Israeli non-profit organization dealing with planning issues, "The plan intends to create territorial contiguity between the settlement of Talmon and the Water Reservoir Hill outpost and to enlarge the settlement, at the expense of Palestinian villagers in the area."