Report: The Occupation Government Cuts Ministry Budgets in Favor of Increasing Funding for Settlements in the West Bank

SadaNews - A report prepared by the National Office for the Defense of Land and Resistance to Settlement indicated that the occupation government continues to reduce the budgets of various ministries, while pumping more money in support of settlements and colonial outposts.

The office based its weekly settlement report issued today, Saturday, on the latest reports released by the "Peace Now" movement, which indicated that Benjamin Netanyahu's government has accelerated the pace of planning and construction in West Bank settlements since it was formed at the end of 2022, and is allocating large amounts of public funds in favor of settlers, resulting in the displacement of Palestinians from their lands and homes.

The Israeli government raised "defense spending" in the budget by about 42 billion shekels in March 2026 to cover the costs of the war on Iran, while reducing ministry budgets, increasing borrowing, and raising the deficit, all while keeping settlement funding unaffected.

The report also indicated that about 2.75 billion shekels are allocated for the development of settlements over the next five years, in addition to hundreds of millions of shekels for establishing new ones, legalizing outposts, and providing financial grants to existing settlements.

It clarified that the government allocated 550 million shekels to enhance "security components" in the settlements, 100 million shekels for protecting buses, and 125 million shekels for paving security roads, while more than 222 kilometers of roads have been built in the West Bank over the past two years, with nearly half of them constructed on private Palestinian lands.

The report showed that colonial projects also include a land registration program in Area C, with funding amounting to about 244.1 million shekels, which threatens to displace thousands of Palestinians, along with significant investments in tourism and colonial projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In this context, the report documented ongoing assaults by settlers and occupation forces in various West Bank governorates, including demolishing homes, physical assaults, property theft, vandalizing agricultural land, and burning vehicles, in addition to establishing new colonial outposts.

The Israeli government also allocated about 800 million shekels to enhance colonization along the eastern border of the occupying state, by establishing farms and educational institutions (such as preparatory military academies and religious schools), and expanding existing settlements.

The plan includes a strip 15 kilometers long along the eastern border, from Eilat to the Sea of Galilee, including a large part of the West Bank.

Netanyahu's government has also made a series of decisions to finance tourism projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as part of its efforts to strengthen and deepen Israeli control, allocating about 949 million shekels for colonial tourism projects since its formation at the end of 2022, of which about 489 million shekels were specifically allocated for this purpose, continuing the policy followed by successive occupation governments.

On another note, the report highlighted the settlers' exploitation of the ongoing war with Iran to carry out their assaults against Palestinians in the West Bank, noting the pressures exerted by religious figures and right-wing elements on the occupation government to prevent holding settlers accountable or punishing them.