Smotrich's Galilee Plan Criticized as Elite Real Estate Scheme
Translated & summarized from TheMarker by baba
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is leading a campaign to settle one million Jews in the Galilee by establishing 40 new communities. Critics accuse his plan of creating luxury settlements to benefit supporters with cheap land, rather than genuinely increasing the Jewish population. Smotrich recently compared residents of an Arab town to militants during a campaign event.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is spearheading a campaign to settle one million Jews in the Galilee.
- The plan involves establishing 40 new "community farms," which critics describe as luxury settlements.
- Critics argue Smotrich's plan is a way to secure valuable land for his supporters at low prices.
- Smotrich recently compared residents of Majd al-Krum to Hamas and Hezbollah militants.
- The campaign aims to counter alleged land seizures by Arab towns threatening Jewish settlement.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich is promoting an aggressive campaign to "Judaize" the Galilee, aiming to settle one million Jews in the region and establish 40 new communities. The campaign slogan, "Yes to Judaization. After the settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria, it's time for the Negev and the Galilee," also calls for canceling plans in Arab towns that allegedly seize land reserves and threaten Jewish settlement.
However, critics argue that Smotrich's proposed "community farms" are actually luxury residential communities, a sophisticated method to secure valuable land at low prices for his supporters. These 40 new settlements would house only about 20,000 people, a number described as barely fitting into one Arab town like Sakhnin. The article questions why owning land in a new settlement is considered more Zionist than moving to established cities like Acre or Karmiel.
During a recent observation overlooking Majd al-Krum, Smotrich reportedly compared the town's residents to Hamas and Hezbollah militants, marking a peak in his party's campaign to increase Jewish presence in the Galilee.
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