Somebody tell me again why we pay Israel $3 BILLION taxpayer clams a year so they can thumb their noses at us and use the money to build illegal settlements:

Israeli law and international mandates prohibit expansion of established settlements outside their borders, but growth of settlements and outposts has been rapid during Sharon's tenure as prime minister. The advocacy group Peace Now said 51 of the 100 outposts in the West Bank have been created since Sharon took office in March 2001. The Israeli government says 28 outposts have been built in that period.

'The state of Israel finances at least part of the establishment of the unauthorized settlement outposts,' the 500-page report says, adding that the Civil Administration, which oversees settlements in the West Bank, 'turns a blind eye to outposts, some of which are on privately owned Palestinian property.'

The Construction and Housing Ministry purchased house trailers in violation of government bid requirements, and a Defense Ministry official approved moving them to the West Bank to create and expand outposts, according to the newspaper account. "This allows for a settlement to be established overnight, by simply moving the trailers," the report says.

The message conveyed by the ministries' actions indicates that "no one seriously intends to enforce the law," the study says.

Depressing. Perhaps all the Jewish moonbats that actually live in these settlements could be tossed in a really big burlap bag with all the Palestinian moonbats that will settle for nothing less than the total destruction of Israel ... then we let them claw each other's eyes out and dump the bag in the Mediterranean ... the folks that are left could probably figure out a way to get along with each other. Just a thought.  ¶ 10:42 PM