PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have begun discussing the measures, which could have construction projects beyond Green Line get speedy approval process.
The settlement of Ma’ale Efrayim in Samaria | Photo: AP / Oded Balilty
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is poised to take a series of steps that could result in a massive increase in the population of Jewish communities in Judea in Samaria over the coming years, Israel Hayom has learned.
During a recent meeting between Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and settler leaders, some of the components of the plans were revealed. If finalized, they would come on top of the pledges already written into the Coalition Agreements that were signed between the Likud and its allies in the Knesset.
The plan’s components include convening the Higher Planning Council in Judea and Samaria as soon as possible and approving some 18,000 new housing units in the coming months. The plan also calls for having the council meet regularly every month rather than once every three months under previous Netanyahu governments and only twice during the past year under the shared premiership of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
Another measure would create a separate entity that would approve construction that is not for residential living, such as daycare centers and industrial complexes. This mini-planning council would meet every several weeks to approve construction plans.
If these proposals get finalized and pass the relevant hurdles, they could increase the number of settlers in the coming years by hundreds of thousands and streamline the approval process for such construction so that only two entities would have to sign off on civilian construction rather than five. As a result of cutting this red tape, the plan would also dramatically shorten the time it takes from the planning phase to the full construction of housing units.
Netanyahu, Gallant, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met to finalize this process earlier this week, as part of the implementation of the agreement that stipulates moving some functions from the Defense Ministry to Smotrich’s portfolio, as he is also defined as a minister within the Defense Ministry. If carried out as planned, Jewish settlers would essentially have the same experience dealing with government agencies as other Israelis, as they would no longer have to go through the filter of the Defense Ministry.
The officials also discussed changing the metrics for how infrastructure projects are measured. Rather than use the prism of the Jewish residents –which currently stand at some 500,000 in Judea and Samaria – projects would take into account the overall number of residents in the affected areas, essentially adding millions of non-Israelis to the official headcount beyond the Green Line for planning purposes ahead of their construction, such as in the case of paving roads. This could create a political backlash, with some on the Left potentially calling this mini-annexation.
@Felix
https://youtu.be/WXj9_lshD-w
https://youtu.be/WXj9_lshD-w
@ Sebastien
Huge victory!
I do not trust this Israeli coalition government to do what is required which is to stand by their Jewish principles and to give a lead to our world based on the latest gains of science, and in this case that includes environmental and climate science.
There’s also much Arab illegal building and all building in this period causes greenhouse gases, so that must be ended, like immediately ended. Time is moving against humanity as our planet heats causing climate breakdown.
There’s only one way which is to protect all of this area as part of the Jewish state. First of all to ask for a willingness to protect the Jewish state. To gain the trust and cooperation of all. But by strictest legal means and force if necessary. This is very much the case of illegal European building.
The best and latest science should be taken on board in the whole area of Israel and Jewish initiative must help us find our human way out of the global warming of our planet. And what I see of these plans looks bad to me and going in the opposite direction from what is needed.
Since this in total is an area of great architectural significance for Jews and Christians preservation of historical sites falls in with returning the area to nature. So not only Israel but everywhere on the planet must urgently change to avoid climate catastrophe.
Marvelous!