Report: New Financial Allocations to Enhance Colonial Infrastructure in the West Bank and Jordan Valley

SadaNews - A report prepared by the National Office for Defense of the Land and Resistance to Settlement stated that the Finance Committee in the Israeli Knesset approved on July 23, a financial transfer of approximately one billion shekels, aimed at what it termed enhancing the infrastructure for colonialism in the West Bank and affirming its annexation together with the Jordan Valley to the occupying state.

The office added in its weekly settlement report issued today, Saturday, that the joint statement issued by Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed the continuation of investment in colonialism and the enhancement of traffic safety for settlers in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. This was achieved through the approval of a transfer of 160 million shekels for Route 437, a bypass road in the Jerusalem area connecting Ramallah governorate and villages in the Jerusalem area, such as Hizma and Anatha. It is part of the colonial road network designed to facilitate settler movement and expand existing settlements in the area, and 361 million shekels for Highway 45, which runs along the eastern border of occupied Jerusalem, isolating large areas of Palestinian land with the fewest possible inhabitants. Additionally, 100 million shekels are allocated for the installation of lighting and the restoration of roads throughout the West Bank, and 50 million shekels for initial and detailed planning in preparation for paving the "Ma'aleh Homesh" road.

Moreover, 25 million shekels were allocated to advance legal procedures related to Route 90, which runs through the Jordan Valley from northern Palestine to its southern region in Eilat, and 47 million shekels for the completion of the Al-‘Arroub bypass road.

The budget also included 128 million shekels for Route 55, which connects Kfar Saba in the 1948 territories with settlements in Qalqilya governorate (the section between the nurseries and Alfei Menashe), and 47 million shekels for Route 446 in Salfit governorate, from the "Lafid" checkpoint to the junction of the "Shilat" settlement southwest of Ramallah.

The Israeli Transportation Minister stated that "the transfers approved represent a direct continuation of a clear policy: imposing sovereignty effectively through fieldwork, continuing to connect settlements, enhancing “traffic safety”, and reducing gaps for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, according to her.

For his part, far-right Smotrich remarked, "This is how we practically exercise sovereignty, this is how we bring in a million new settlers, and this is how we dismiss the idea of establishing a ‘terrorist’ Palestinian state from the table," expressing that the huge investment we lead in the government in transportation infrastructure in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley is part of a clear strategic plan: enhancing settlement, and the geographic and political connection of the area to the State of Israel, turning sovereignty into a reality on the ground."

Smotrich has been clear on this front from the outset. In the religious Zionism conference last year, he stated clearly: "Anyone who wants to bring a million settlers to Judea and Samaria must ensure the availability of building locations, and we need roads. We have included in the upcoming five-year plan, I and the Minister of Transportation, about 7 billion shekels for this purpose. This is truly a revolution... I tell you this is the most important revolution: If it is possible within five to seven years to reach from anywhere in Benjamin (in Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate), Samaria (in the northern West Bank), and the Jordan Valley to a transport station in fifteen minutes, and then to public mass transport infrastructure, and then another fifteen minutes, and find yourself connected to Gush Dan (Greater Tel Aviv), this is a revolution: this is how a million settlers are brought to Judea and Samaria."

This is what has recently appeared from plans for building, paving, and developing roads in the West Bank, whether through the Knesset, government decisions, cabinet meetings, or ministries, and it does not include what is hidden, of course, and not circulated in the media, except within a limited scope.

Comments have begun to flow regarding this phenomenon, as the scale of colonial construction in the occupied West Bank is usually measured by the number of units approved for construction, the new planned neighborhoods, and the establishment of colonial outposts. In recent years, agricultural and pastoral farms have also emerged as one of the means of colonial expansion.

However, specifically, the intensive development of the element that connects all these components, which is the roads, is completely absent from the radar. During the current occupation government's term, there has been a noticeable push for the construction of "illegal" roads, according to the occupation laws that receive direct or indirect government support, in addition to colonial streets that the government has officially approved at a cost of billions of shekels.

There are investments worth billions of shekels in central roads, and an additional 100 kilometers of informal roads in just one year, alongside explicit statements from Smotrich and other Israeli officials regarding their purpose: a million Israelis and imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank as a fact on the ground. The new roads being constructed in the occupied territories alter daily life and impose new realities on the ground, according to these officials, and according to the leaders of settlement councils.

The Israeli official authorities do not publish any information about the new roads that settlers themselves have begun paving in the occupied territories.

A report by the Israeli organization "Peace Now" reveals their magnitude, indicating that the report, which is based mainly on comparisons of aerial images of the area, states that between mid-2023 and mid-2024, 139 informal roads were paved, totaling 116 kilometers, and this figure does not include the updates and developments made during the same period on existing dirt roads.

25 roads were paved to establish new colonial outposts, 31 roads to expand existing outposts, and eight roads between an existing outpost and a nearby settlement. Additionally, 46 roads were paved to enable access to areas where there is currently no permanent presence of settlers, and it is likely, according to the report, that new outposts will be established in the future.

These roads were not created based on a government plan and have not been issued legal permits, and two-thirds of them pass through private Palestinian lands, exclusively for the use of settlers, while Palestinians are prohibited from using them.

The paving of these informal roads receives government support and funding, one of the funding bodies is the "Settlement Division" of the World Zionist Organization (which is itself funded by the government). At the religious Zionism conference last June, the division's director-general "Hoshaya Harari" presented how the division invested approximately 75 million shekels in 2023 to support farms and colonial outposts, of which 7.7 million shekels were designated for paving roads to those outposts.

Another avenue for funding informal roads comes directly through the budget of the Ministry of Settlement, which supports land patrol units operated by settlement councils to prevent planning and building violations and the confiscation of state land. These units can receive government support for security installations within the settlement councils, including paving routes and closing areas, as well as paving or restoring dirt roads.

Promises of support do not remain on paper; documents from the Ministry of Settlement show that the "Regional Settlement Council" received last year 1.1 million shekels to support a project that includes paving a path to protect state land in the Susya area, while the colonial council "Gush Etzion" received 958 thousand shekels to improve existing roads to protect state land in the hills, and the "Benjamin Settlement Council" received about 1.9 million shekels for six different projects for paving roads. This is just a partial list.

On the other hand, there are those who claim the exact opposite; the organization "Regavim" submitted a petition to the Supreme Court asking the law enforcement authorities in the occupied territories to take action against an illegal road that was paved by Palestinians in southern Hebron on state land.

Last month, the organization published a map, alleging that Palestinians paved 106 kilometers of new roads over the past year. Regavim's website stated: "These roads are the infrastructure for establishing a Palestinian state."

If we look back a little to the first months of the formation of the current Israeli government, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Transportation Minister Miri Regev agreed within the framework of the government’s plan to impose what they call sovereignty (the annexation plan) by allocating billions of shekels for developing roads and infrastructure for the settlements in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and incorporating it into the general budget for 2024.

The occupying government allocated about 4 billion shekels for this purpose within the general budget, in addition to 160 million shekels that were included in the budget of the Israeli Ministry of Transportation. These amounts mean that 25.69% of the budget allocated to "implement the strategic plan" for road paving in Israel has been allocated for projects related to colonial infrastructure and roads in the West Bank, out of a total of 13.687 billion shekels allocated for infrastructure projects in Israel.

Among the allocated budgets, half a billion shekels were designated for expanding the colonial road from the "Ariel" settlement junction to the "Tefooh" settlement in Salfit governorate.

Additionally, it was decided to allocate 150 million shekels for developing the road network near the "Alfei Menashe" settlement south of Qalqilya, and a budget of 200 million shekels was allocated for paving a bypass road for the town of the hotel, while a budget of 366 million shekels was allocated for updating and expanding the road leading to the "Beit El" settlement, and a budget of 136 million shekels was allocated for expanding the connecting road. A budget of 2 billion shekels was allocated for developing and expanding the colonial Route 60, including the Huwara bypass road.

According to agreements, 156 million shekels were allocated for developing intersections and main roads near Al-Issawiya for the benefit of settlers, and 80 million for expanding the eastern bypass road in Jerusalem, which serves the settlements in the Jerusalem area up to Bethlehem and Hebron, in addition to a budget of 300 million shekels for paving a colonial road linking the "Magrun" settlement in the Qalandiya crossing area.

Regarding the latest destructive activities of the occupation authorities, the "Peace Now" movement reported that the High Planning Council has begun discussing progress made in the deposit phase plan that includes 350 colonial units in the "Bisaagut" colony (plan 222/5), proposing a demolition and rebuilding (urban renewal) project for plots of land located on the western side of the settlement.

It mentioned that in December 2024, the commander of the central command of the occupation army signed a military order applying Israeli urban renewal laws to construction in the settlements, allowing the allocation of government budgets for planning demolition and reconstruction projects, in addition to other plans classified under urban renewal, as determined by the High Planning Council in its meetings to advance housing projects in the settlements, through a weekly approval process for construction, thus reaching a total of 21,027 colonial units planned for approval since the beginning of 2025, a clear record.

On another level, while the Netherlands imposes sanctions on the far-right ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, deeming them undesirable, and while the West Bank witnesses an unprecedented escalation in settler terrorism, Ben Gvir bragged at a conference for his party "Otzma Yehudit" last week that he has changed the police's approach in the West Bank toward settlers involved in terrorist attacks and criminal acts in the occupied West Bank since he took office, according to what was reported by the newspaper "Haaretz". He noted that he put an end to the pursuit of the terrorist organization that calls itself "Hilltop Youth", stating during the conference: "Before I took office, the police were chasing 'Hilltop Youth', running after 14-year-old boys, and bothering them. This is over. This does not exist during my time. And I am proud that I changed that."

Member of Knesset Limor Son Har-Melech from the "Otzma Yehudit" party said at the same conference, "The government is waging global wars against law enforcement officials, and against high-ranking levels in the army leadership, who do not differentiate between the enemy and the citizen, and they care about the rights of terrorists instead of the rights of citizens."

Ben Gvir’s remarks come at a time when an investigation is underway regarding the commander of the central unit of the occupation police in the West Bank, Avichai Ma’alem, suspected of deliberately ignoring intelligence information about attacks carried out by settlers, aiming to gain favor with Ben Gvir and obtain a promotion.