The government announced Tuesday that NIS 1.3 billion ($431 million) was allocated by the security cabinet last month to fund the establishment of dozens of new West Bank settlements approved by Israel over the last three and a half years. The cabinet decision was formulated by the Prime Minister’s Office, and will be implemented by the Settlements Ministry and the Housing and Construction Ministry. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock announced the details in a joint press conference, stating that the funds would be used to establish “pioneer neighborhoods” at the sites of newly approved settlements, which will include prefabricated homes, roads and infrastructure.
Smotrich, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, is the head of the Religious Zionism party that draws much of its support from settlements. He is also in charge of the Defense Ministry Settlement Administration, which oversees settlement activities in the West Bank. Declaring the cabinet’s decision historic and a “day of celebration for Israel and settlements,” Smotrich thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his support.
“We are strengthening the security of the State of Israel, killing the idea of establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the country, and strengthening our hold on the homeland in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said in a statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “There has never been a Zionist-settlement decision of this size in the whole history of Zionism since it was founded,” Strock said. United Nations bodies, Palestinians and most countries view the settlements as illegal under international conventions — a stance rejected by Israel — and as a primary obstacle to peace. Palestinians want the West Bank and East Jerusalem as territory for their own future state.
The government has, during its tenure, approved 103 new West Bank settlements, an unprecedented number in the history of the settlement movement. The expedited establishment of 34 new settlements will run in parallel to the usual settlement development process, Smotrich said, and appears designed to establish facts on the ground before any potential new government can reverse or stall the establishment of these settlements. (Read More)
