800 Families Register for Settlement in Negev and Galilee

Within a single month, 800 families have registered for settlement initiatives in the Negev and Galilee, promoted by the Religious Zionism party. The party is now preparing to assign these families to settlement groups and establish new settlement points as part of a broader plan led by party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The plan aims to increase the Jewish population in the Negev and Galilee by one million residents, with the establishment of 40 new settlements and dozens of farms, alongside significant expansion of existing communities and the creation of hundreds of thousands of housing solutions. The party intends to replicate the settlement expansion policies previously implemented in Judea and Samaria.

Of the registered families, 424 expressed a preference for settling in the Galilee, 196 in the Negev, and 180 are open to either region. This marks the completion of the first stage of the plan, which involved family recruitment and registration for settlement groups.

The second stage will involve dividing registrants into settlement groups, and the third stage will focus on the actual establishment of settlement points, which is currently in the mapping and preparation phase. The Religious Zionism party also plans to work towards canceling recently approved programs in Arab towns, arguing they occupy extensive land reserves and hinder Jewish development and settlement opportunities in these areas.

Smotrich expressed gratitude for the families' response, stating, "We must immediately address the situation in the Negev and Galilee, which is why we are preparing to transfer the settlement revolution we carried out in Judea and Samaria to the Negev and Galilee." He emphasized the need for a strong Religious Zionism party in the upcoming elections to ensure the plan's execution.