Israel today declared 465 dunams in the Binyamin area as state land, a move expected to significantly expand the settlement of Givat HaRoeh and accelerate large-scale construction in the area. The announcement comes after the political-security cabinet approved in February 2023 the recognition of Givat HaRoeh as a new independent settlement.
Since that decision, the settlement has gone through formalization steps, including expanding its jurisdiction under the signature of Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Blot and assigning it a municipal emblem by the Interior Ministry. The new land designation now allows planning to move forward, alongside a first construction plan now being promoted for more than 900 housing units.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich said Givat HaRoeh had “stood heroically for more than twenty years waiting for the moment when the Government of Israel would advance its regularization.” He added that the new declaration would be “a tremendous lever for growth and development” and said, “Facing the left’s plans to evacuate settlements, we are fighting a Palestinian state that will not be established.” He thanked the Civil Administration, the regional commander and the Settlement Administration for the process.
Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Gantz called the move “a strategically important step of the first order.” He said the settlement sits in a central area in the heart of the country and serves as “the western anchor of the Shiloh-Ofra bloc,” arguing that its expansion strengthens the settlement continuity, Israel’s hold on the area and the security of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. He also linked the move to broader efforts to advance thousands of housing units across the region and rejected talk of Palestinian autonomy, calling it “a terror state in the heart of the country.”
