A Giant Step Toward Sovereignty: Israel Approves 22 New Settlements in Judea and Samaria

As part of a broad initiative led by Minister Katz and Minister Smotrich, the establishment of 22 new settlements has been approved, including a historic return to Homesh and Sa-Nur following the repeal of the Disengagement Law in that area and the reinforcement of Israel’s strategic hold throughout Judea and Samaria.

The decision also includes the establishment of four settlements in the eastern border region with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel’s eastern backbone, national security, and strategic hold in the area.

All the new settlements are being established with a long-term strategic vision, aimed at strengthening Israel’s hold on the territory, preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, and securing the settlement enterprise’s growth reserves for decades to come.

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated: “This historic decision to establish 22 new settlements in Judea and Samaria strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria, anchors our historical right to the Land of Israel, and serves as a decisive response to Palestinian terrorism that seeks to harm and weaken the settlement enterprise. The Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is a vital defensive barrier for Israel’s major population centers, and we must do everything to expand and strengthen this barrier. The decision we made today not only strengthens the settlement in the eastern backbone of the state but is also a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel, serving as a buffer against our enemies. This is a Zionist, security, and national response and a clear decision on the future of the land.”

Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich said, “This is a great day for the settlement enterprise and an important day for the State of Israel. Through intensive work and persistent leadership, we have succeeded, thank God, in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision. The settlement in our ancestral heritage is the defensive wall of the State of Israel: today we took a giant step toward strengthening it. The next step [is] sovereignty! We have not taken a foreign land, but rather our ancestral inheritance.”