Finance Minister and Defense Ministry Minister Bezalel Smotrich said overnight, during a ceremony formalizing the settlement of Gevaot in Gush Etzion, that he intends to approve thousands of additional housing units there. The plan would come on top of more than 800 homes already approved and is meant to turn Gevaot into a new city. The settlement has recently been recognized as an independent community in Israel.
Smotrich said building a large city in Gevaot is strategically important for Gush Etzion and for creating continuity across the area. He added that the event marked not only the decision to establish a large settlement-city, but also the approval of the first zoning plan and the completion of the settlement’s regularization process.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosental praised Smotrich, saying, “The main thanks for this revolution goes first and foremost to our friend, Minister Bezalel Smotrich.” Rosental said many people did not believe new communities could be established, but that under the current government Gush Etzion has doubled the number of settlements in the past three years.
The ceremony, held in the courtyard of the Shiluv workshop in Gevaot, featured singer Shuli Rand and drew hundreds of attendees, including settlement families and dozens of children from nearby communities. Among those present were Yahuda Wald, director general of the Religious Zionism party, Yanki Quint, and Tamar Hakasher, the cofounder and CEO of Shiluv and one of Gevaot’s founders. Smotrich also met the widow of Yossi Hershkowitz, the late principal of Pelech High School, and said the settlement work continues in the spirit of people who have sacrificed their lives over the past two and a half years so Israelis can live in Gevaot, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Shmona, Sderot and elsewhere as a free nation in its land.
