**********************************************************
The Israeli Government has closely co-operated in the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories. "Co-operation has taken many forms, all directed toward the successful transfer of Israeli citizens into the occupied territories".30/
The aid provided by the Israeli Government includes income tax exemptions, inexpensive loans, and material assistance such as water, electricity, telephone service, bulldozer and transportation facilities. According to one source:
"The primary method by which the Israeli Government encourages settlers to transfer to the occupied territories is with direct subsidies to the settlements. The Government acknowledged that, through June 1977, it had allocated 400 million dollars to settlements in the occupied territories.
"The 1978 Israeli budget provides a considerable increase in expenditures for the absorption of new settlers into the settlements already established in the occupied areas…
"The 1978 allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture includes the highest amount ever set aside for new settlements – 426 million Israeli pounds (it was 267 million Israeli pounds in 1977). In the Ministry of Housing's budget, 840 million Israeli pounds have been allocated for the construction of 1,550 building units in the new settlements."31/
It was reported in The New York Post on 28 February 1981 that "Parliament's Finance Committee has approved about 4 million dollars for the construction of 400 homes in already existing settlements…" and it has been estimated that by 1976 Israel had spent at least 500 million dollars on settlements.