CHAVAT YAER OUTPOST, WEST BANK — Young Harel-David Rosenthal squirmed and screeched in his grandfather's arms as if he knew what was coming. The rabbi's practiced hands moved quickly and efficiently, and more than 100 relatives and well-wishers quietly whispered Hebrew prayers to comfort the infant and mute his outraged screams.
It was a bris -- the circumcision of a newborn boy, whose parents are among the 23 families staking a claim here.
For the residents of this unauthorized Jewish "outpost" deep in the occupied West Bank, every addition is an extra foothold on land they have every intention of keeping, regardless of shifting political winds or the stark fact that they're heavily outnumbered by the surrounding Palestinians.
"We have a demographic problem, we know. We're trying to have as many children as possible," said Michal Admoni, 30, the mother of five. "You answer a demographic problem with a demographic solution."
But a more immediate threat looms. Settlers fear that a showdown with the Israeli government is approaching as they face growing dissension in their ranks over strategy and a public image problem.
Three years after Israel dismantled its settlements in the Gaza Strip, these are nervous times for the estimated 250,000 Jewish settlers still living on land captured by Israel in 1967.
Many Israeli politicians, including outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, are calling for the return of most of the West Bank -- known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria -- in exchange for keeping several large settlement blocks around Jerusalem.
Some settlers believe their vision of Eretz Israel, a Jewish state that engulfs all of the West Bank, hangs in the balance in the election in February of a new prime minister. A victory by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni over right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu would be regarded by many settlers as a step toward surrender.
"I think people are worried. They're not sure what's going to happen," said Tamar Yonah, a journalist and resident of the Kochav Yaakov settlement east of Jerusalem. "The government right now, in order to give away land, has to demonize us."
That tension is partially reflected in a series of recent clashes between Israeli troops and a new generation of activist settlers. These so-called hilltop youths are aggressively claiming new territory and operating in defiance of the government and mainstream settler leadership. Their emergence has fueled confrontations with Palestinian villagers and Israeli security forces.
