Tel Aviv (UNA/WAFA) – Israel’s extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a government plan to allocate 2.7 billion shekels to establish 17 new settlements in the West Bank over the next five years and to develop settlement infrastructure in several areas.
According to the plan, 1.1 billion shekels will be allocated to strengthen existing settlements and establish new ones, including 660 million for the 17 settlements recently approved by the government, and 338 million for the development of 36 settlements and outposts under regulation, including infrastructure such as water, sewage and electricity, in addition to public buildings such as religious centers, schools and clubs.
The government will also allocate 300 million shekels to the new settlements, including 160 million as an establishment grant and 140 million for regulatory purposes, in addition to the establishment of “absorption warehouses” that include about 20 caravans for families, thus opening the way for future settlement expansion.
The plan also includes allocating 434 million shekels to old settlements for infrastructure rehabilitation, 300 million to settlement councils in the West Bank, 140 million for road barriers, and 150 million for bus protection over three years.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz is expected to allocate additional budgets to enhance security in the new settlements, including smart fences, cameras, and military equipment stations.
The plan addresses paths that enhance Israeli control outside the 48 territories, through the development of settlements, the construction of roads, the relocation of military bases, and the establishment of administrative and military control over the targeted areas, amounting to the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
It also stipulates the allocation of 225 million shekels to establish the “Tabu” unit for the West Bank, and to transfer land registration to it instead of the “Civil Administration”, which affects about half a million settlers, and aims to regulate about 60 dunams by 2030.
The newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” reported that the plan includes moving three military bases to the northern West Bank, most notably moving the headquarters of the “Menashe” brigade to the area of the former evacuated “Shanur” settlement, in a move described as dramatic to strengthen the military and colonial grip in the region.
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