Israel Approves Establishment of 19 New Settlements in the West Bank

SadaNews: Israeli Finance Minister and official in charge of settlement affairs, Bezalel Smotrich, announced today, Sunday, that the occupation government has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of a government policy he described as "unprecedented and record-breaking" over the past three years.

The announcement came in an official statement issued by Smotrich, confirming that the political-security cabinet approved the establishment and legal settlement of these settlements, including the settlements of "Ganim" and "Kadim," which were evacuated in 2005 as part of the disengagement plan, along with existing settlement clusters and others in advanced stages of construction in the northern West Bank.

Smotrich emphasized that these steps come within a clear political goal represented in preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying, "The steps being taken on the ground aim to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state of terror," as he described it, adding that what the government is doing falls under what he considers "simple, correct, and moral Zionism."

The extremist minister pointed out that Netanyahu's government has, over the past three years, legalized and settled the conditions of 69 settlement clusters, describing this as a "record and unprecedented outcome," while Israeli media considered the recent cabinet decision one of the widest steps in "legalizing settlement outposts" in recent years.

This approval comes as part of an upward trajectory led by Netanyahu's government to institutionalize the policy of legalizing outposts and converting them into official settlements, thereby expanding Israeli control deep into the West Bank, amid indications of the beginning of an early, undeclared electoral campaign within Netanyahu's camp.