A Jewish Israeli community existing outside the internationally accepted boundaries of the State of Israel. Those ideologically in support of them do not call them “settlements.” The settler movement began following the War of 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, the Golan Heights in Syria and the Sinai in Egypt. Settlements are most controversial when they are built within the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, which some Israelis refer to as Judea and Samaria or as “disputed” territories. Many proponents of the settler movement claim that settlement of these lands is a divine right, mandated by religious texts, and part of the Zionist imperative to settle Eretz Yisrael or the Land of Israel. Less ideological proponents regard settlements as a security necessity for Israel. Opponents argue that such settlements are illegal under international law, annex Palestinian-owned land, and preclude the final status of disputed borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state. By and large, settlements receive Israeli government funding, as well as military and infrastructural support (see Settlement Subsidies). The course of the Separation Barrier frequently juts into the West Bank in order to protect settlements within this territory. In 2005, the Likud-led Israeli government initiated the withdrawal of 8,000 settlers from Gaza and from a handful of settlements in the West Bank (see Gaza Disengagement). Over 130 settlements remain in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), with a population of approximately 500,000 in 2009. Additionally, there are settlement outposts, which were established by Jewish Israelis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories without seeking permission from the proper Israeli authorities (see Outpost). See Gorenberg, Gershon. The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements 1967-1977. New York: Henry Holt, 2006; Masalha, Nur. Imperial Israel And The Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion. London: Pluto Press, 2000;  “Land Expropriation and Settlements.” B’Tselem. 8 August 2011. http://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/; and “Settlements.” Peace Now. 8 August 2011. http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/settlements.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/settlement