While the world argues slogans about two states and occupation, Israel is quietly deciding which communities it cannot afford to lose and which it can afford to neglect — in concrete, mortgages, and bypass roads. National Priority Areas are the country's answer to having no strategic depth: settlement as shield, demography as strategy, asphalt as sovereignty. If you want to understand which towns will still be carrying the line in twenty years — and why Judea and Samaria sit at the center of the map whether diplomats like it or not — read on.
The priority map wasn't invented to win arguments. It was invented to prevent funerals.
The Israel Brief is the Mitzpe Institute's read on Israel and the region — most mornings, Sunday through Thursday. More at mitzpe.org.