The Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria is “irreversible,” Former Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan who is running in the Jewish Home primaries in two weeks stated Friday.

Dayan commented on figures presented by the Interior Ministry, which noted Thursday that almost 400,000 Israeli Jews now live in the region. 

“Interior Ministry figures, showing that Judea-Samaria currently has nearly 400,000 Israelis, demonstrates [that] settlement in Judea-Samaria is an irreversible fact,” said Dayan.

“In my period [as Yesha Council Chairman] the population grew by 35%, and the growth does not stop, on the contrary,” he continued.

“The international community understands that there will not be a Palestinian state here, and the left too – Tzipi [Livni] and Yitzhak [Herzog] – should sober up on the thought of what would happen if they abandoned Israel’s security to the [Palestinian Authority] and the terror to follow,” said Dayan.

389,250 Jews now live in Judea-Samaria, up over 15,000 people since 2013. An additional 375,000 live in neighborhoods of Jerusalem over the 1949 Armistice line, such as the French Hill, Sanhedria, the Mount of Olives, and Mount Scopus.