Smotrich's Party to Meet at Evacuated Settlement Outpost Site
The Religious Zionism party, led by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, will hold an urgent faction meeting on Thursday morning at the site of a settlement outpost recently dismantled near Majd al-Krum in the Galilee. The choice of location is seen as a provocative political statement, with the party aiming to re-center the issue of the outpost, which was cleared last week following widespread public and legal activism against it. This move positions the outpost as a political platform within an election campaign where the party champions expanding Jewish settlement in the Galilee and Negev, mirroring Smotrich's policies in the West Bank.
The party stated that the meeting, which will be closed to the media, aims to address the new settlement point near Majd al-Krum. This comes less than a week after Smotrich criticized the activism against the outpost, linking pro-Palestinian slogans to a perceived loss of governance in the Galilee and calling for a significant policy shift. Smotrich vowed to extend his government's West Bank settlement model to the Galilee and Negev, stating his intention to "Judaize the Galilee as we did in Judea and Samaria" and to do so "three times over in the Negev and the Galilee."
This plan aligns with Smotrich's August announcement of a strategy to bring one million Jews to the Galilee and Negev, establish 40 new settlements, create dozens of farms, and remove planning obstacles to settlement expansion. He frames this as an extension of his "settlement revolution" in the West Bank, where he has boasted about unprecedented settlement growth and the demolition of Palestinian structures.
The meeting occurs as the issue of the outpost near Majd al-Krum remains unresolved. A new plan proposes re-establishing a pastoral site nearby on land claimed by the Jewish National Fund (KKL). This plan involves setting up tents for grazing and housing guards, replacing West Bank settlers with local guards from the Hashomer Hadas organization. The original outpost was established in the "Al-Rous" area of Majd al-Krum, sparking protests and legal action, with some settlers encroaching on private Palestinian land. The outpost was evacuated last week after days of protests and legal challenges, with the local council and popular committee emphasizing that the evacuation resulted from strong public pressure aimed at protecting land rights.
The land where the previous outpost was located is largely privately owned by residents of Majd al-Krum, with some portions controlled by the Israel Land Authority and other areas owned by displaced Palestinians. Hundreds of dunams surrounding the site are also owned by local residents.
