Yes, There Will Be an Answer...

Let It It Be?

Because 'tis true: the life (lives?) you save, might be your own.*

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved the construction of hundreds of settler homes, the prime minister's office said Sunday, in a stern message to the Palestinians after three children and their parents were killed in their sleep in a West Bank settlement over the weekend.

Israeli officials suspect Palestinian militants carried out the deadly knife attack, which could cool any Israeli plans to propose a new peace initiative. Israel's move to build more settler homes antagonized the Palestinians and further complicated badly troubled peace efforts.

The settlement construction, approved Saturday night by the Cabinet's ministerial team on settlements, would take place in major West Bank settlement blocs that Israel expects to hold on to in any final peace deal, the prime minister's office said in a text message to reporters. Prime Minister Benjanmin Netanyahu, who is under domestic pressure to respond harshly to the killings — is a member of that team.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release this information to the media, said between 300 and 500 apartments and homes were approved for construction.

Palestinian opposition to settlement construction on lands they want for a future state has brought negotiations to a virtual standstill over the past two years, with Palestinians refusing to negotiate directly with Israel as long as it persists.

"We condemn this act of accelerated settlement construction," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said. "We urge the international community to intervene and implement the two-state solution. This is the only way out of this vicious circle of violence and counter-violence."

Settler leader Dani Dayan called the government's move "a very small step in the right direction."

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*At least think of all the innocent children in the region, who no doubt deserve an end to potentially violent futures?

Lord, there's got to be another way...

ADDED: God forgive me for being cynical enough to even think so, but... any chance that a "radical" settler might be Abrahamic enough to think that sacrificing a young family, in the name of G-d's progress for their people, might overall advance the cause? It seems odd that such grisly deaths, in a no doubt tightened secure settlement, could go unnoticed as the alleged Palestinian killers slipped in, and out again. Cynical, yes. But does it cross one's mind? Yes, too.

Especially with the push to build more, more, more!, in response to such a tragedy...