Israel’s extremist finance minister allocates $843M to expand West Bank settlements

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has earmarked 2.7 billion shekels (about $843 million) over the next five years to expand illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, in what local media described as a form of “de facto annexation.”

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday that the funds, designated for building new settlements, opening access roads, strengthening security and formalizing land records, represent an unprecedented allocation.

A central component of the plan includes relocating three Israeli army bases to northern West Bank areas, which the newspaper called a major step.

“Billions of shekels are intended to reshape the settlements,” the paper said, noting that the budget covers the transfer of military bases, infrastructure development for dozens of new settlements, access roads and expanded defense systems.

The outlet said the five-year package is aimed at “all elements that strengthen Israeli governance” in the West Bank and effectively constitute annexation.

Under the plan, Israel will establish “absorption clusters” - sites of 20 mobile homes each - allowing illegal settlers to move in and form new settlement nuclei.

The government will also transfer 300 million shekels ($93.4 million) to all new settlements, including 160 million shekels ($49.8 million) in establishment grants and 140 million shekels ($43.6 million) for organization and operational activity.

Existing settlements will receive 434 million shekels ($135 million) for infrastructure upgrades, and an additional 300 million shekels ($93.4 million) will go to regional and local settler councils.

De facto annexation

One of the plan’s most significant measures, the newspaper said, is allocating 225 million shekels ($70 million) to create a land-registration unit.

Purchases in the West Bank were recorded with the Israeli Civil Administration rather than Israel’s official land registry. Under the new plan, all land records will be mapped and transferred to a dedicated West Bank registry, the report said.

The new unit will employ 41 staff and aims to formalize roughly 60,000 dunams by 2030.

The plan also allocates 140 million shekels ($43.6 million) to open access roads, primarily for Israeli army needs, and 150 million shekels ($46.6 million) over three years to upgrade armored school buses across the West Bank.

Yedioth Ahronoth said Defense Minister Israel Katz is expected to allocate additional funds for settlement security, including “smart fences, equipment sites, cameras and other systems.”

The plan “reshapes Israel’s approach in the West Bank, creating a reality future government will struggle to reverse,” Yedioth Ahronoth said.

Smotrich claimed Monday on the US social media company X that “Judea and Samaria (West Bank) are Israel’s security belt.”

The extremist minister said he is proud to lead a “revolution that cancels the idea of dividing the land and establishing a terrorist state, strengthening Israel’s security.”

Smotrich has repeatedly pledged to block the creation of a Palestinian state and has previously called for Israel to annex about 82% of the West Bank.

Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now estimates about 500,000 illegal settlers live in West Bank settlements and another 250,000 in settlements in East Jerusalem.

In a landmark opinion in July last year, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.