According to the NGO Kerem Navot, 'Establishing four outposts in Area A is unprecedented by any measure, and shows the extent to which the State of Israel has lost control not only over settlers in the West Bank, but also over the army, the police and other authorities'

The West Bank District Police are not part of the equation, the Shin Bet has become irrelevant and the boundaries between Israeli citizens and the army have completely blurred in the West Bank. The project of cleansing the occupied territories of Arabs is gaining momentum - and no one is stopping it. 'Even when there are reports that something is going to happen,' says one reserve soldier, 'we get there after the fact'

The prime minister has generously bestowed promises on the north, but funding is reserved solely for his political allies ■ IDF chief Eyal Zamir has drawn a target on his own back ■ The coalition gears up to make Israel's crumbling international standing irreversible