http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3096621,00.html
The drop in construction inside Israel may even be greater than they say, being that a lot of the construction in Jerusalem is taking place over the Green Line (which, because it is Jerusalem, I am not sure if Yideot Ahronot recognizes it also as settlement building).
Bryan
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Settlement construction skyrockets
Israeli construction in settlements rises 83 percent this year ahead of Gaza pullout while building within Israel's 1967 borders drops 6 percent
By Edo Efraty
TEL AVIV - Israel has boosted its construction in 500 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza since the beginning of the year ahead of it's plan to quit Gaza later this year, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
The construction of some 560 West Bank and Gaza apartments began during the first quarter of 2005, marking an 83 percent jump from a year ago, the bureau reported.
Israel is preparing to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank this summer while strengthening large settlement blocs in the West Bank -- a plan U.S. President George W. Bush has endorsed, calling the blocs "existing realities".
Settlers claim the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day war, as part of their biblical birthright. Palestinians want the land as part of a future state.
Drop in construction inside Israel
Initial residential construction inside Israel's 1967 borders dropped 6 percent from last year, to 6850 new apartments for the quarter.
The sharpest drop in initial residential construction was recorded in the south (25 percent) and Haifa (23.6 percent), and initial residential construction in central Israel decreased by 17 percent.
However, the Jerusalem area has seen a 113 percent surge in initial residential construction during the quarter. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered to boost building in the city, whose eastern part Palestinians want as capital of a future state, as well as large settlement blocs surrounding it.
The data shows 74 percent of first quarter apartment construction was privately initiated, while 26 percent of the quarter's construction was part of a public sector initiative.