Netanyahu said to cede significant control over settlement construction to Smotrich

Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to relinquish significant control over the approval process for West Bank settlement construction to far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party.

As part of the coalition agreement reached between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Religious Zionism, the prime minister’s approval will only be required at an initial stage of the planning process, when the government decides the scope and location of projects to be placed on the docket of the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee — the Defense Ministry body that authorizes settlement construction, the Kan public broadcaster reported Friday.

Currently, the prime minister’s approval is needed at every stage of the process, which requires four or more authorizations from the Civil Administration before ground can be broken. The need for the premier’s okay at each stage has allowed past governments to freeze or shelve settlement projects that were particularly controversial or exposed Israel to significant international backlash. READ MORE