Benjamin Council Advances New Settlements Ahead of Israeli Elections

The Benjamin Regional Council announced plans to establish several new pioneering settlements in the Benjamin area of the West Bank in the coming months, ahead of the upcoming Israeli elections. This initiative follows a decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet to create and regulate new settlements in the West Bank. The new communities will be built in two strategic zones: the western Benjamin mountain ridge connecting Jerusalem to central Israel, and the eastern Benjamin area overlooking the Jordan Valley. These settlements will join Ma'oz Tzur, a community founded recently near Highway 443 and the Telmonim bloc.

The council emphasized the urgency of completing these settlements now to capitalize on the current political window and establish permanent facts on the ground. Strengthening civilian and community presence along the western seam line and in the open eastern areas is intended to secure Israel’s long-term security regardless of future political changes. For years, large areas in eastern and western Benjamin lacked a permanent Jewish presence, during which the Palestinian Authority, under the "Fayyad Plan," sought to systematically and illegally take control of these strategic zones to isolate key routes and create hostile continuity from east to south.

Israel Gantz, chairman of the Benjamin Council and the Yesha Council, stated that this settlement drive is a decisive Zionist response restoring Jewish sovereignty over vital territories and ensuring Israeli control over Highway 443 and national transportation arteries. He highlighted the historical significance of reestablishing Jewish communities in areas where ancestors once lived but where Jews had not settled for millennia.

Gantz warned that the choice is clear: either Israel establishes these pioneering communities or Ramallah and Iranian-backed terror groups will dominate the hills overlooking Ben Gurion Airport and the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. He expressed confidence that by summer, millions of Israelis flying out of Ben Gurion Airport will see a strong human presence safeguarding the land beneath them. Gantz credited the deep partnership and political backing from Israel’s government and security leadership for enabling this historic move.