Israeli Minister Proposes Settlements in Negev, Galilee
Translated & summarized from Al-Shams by baba
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a plan to establish 40 new towns and 80 farms in the Negev and Galilee within a year. The initiative aims to increase the Jewish population by one million and expand land control. Implementation is conditional on Smotrich's party receiving specific governmental authorities in the next coalition. The plan also seeks to cancel development in Arab towns and enhance security through new settlements.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich plans 40 new towns and 80 farms in Negev and Galilee.
- The initiative aims to increase the Jewish population by one million people.
- Smotrich links the plan's execution to gaining specific governmental authorities.
- The plan includes canceling development in Arab towns.
- Smotrich claims the farms will help curb smuggling and enhance security.
Israeli Finance Minister and head of the Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, has pledged to establish 40 new towns and 80 agricultural farms in the Negev and Galilee regions within six months to a year. This initiative aims to increase the Jewish population in these areas by one million people and expand land control. Smotrich stated that the plan includes establishing 20 new towns in the Negev and 20 in the Galilee, along with 40 farms in each region. The implementation is contingent on his participation in the next Israeli government and his acquisition of demanded authorities.
Smotrich claimed that establishing farms across the Negev would help curb smuggling operations, asserting the plan's goal is to enhance security and the sense of safety. He also aims to encourage residents, investors, and the private sector to relocate to these regions. This proposal builds on a previous plan announced on August 27, titled "Yes, We Will Judaize," which also targeted a one million increase in the Jewish population in the Negev and Galilee through new settlements, expanded existing towns, and hundreds of thousands of housing solutions.
The plan includes demands to transfer planning authority and the Israel Land Authority to the Religious Zionism party in the upcoming government. It also calls for canceling development plans in Arab towns that the party deems contradictory to its objectives in the two regions. Smotrich linked the project's execution to obtaining the required authorities, promising to begin establishing the towns and farms within the specified timeframe, though a detailed budget or phased implementation schedule was not provided.
