“To establish a Palestinian state means to abandon, God forbid, the center of the country to the Nazis and the next massacre"

 

Jewish woman rides her horse in Sdeh Bar Farm, Gush Etzion.

by David Israel

Twenty-five new outposts have been established in Judea and Samaria Since October 7, 2023, according to a new Peace Now report. I received the report in my email because I am a Peace Now subscriber, so you won’t have to be.

The report, which summarizes the numbers behind the Israeli government’s actions “to annex the West Bank under the auspices of the war,” also states that the government has promoted approvals for the construction of 8,271 housing units throughout Judea and Samaria (although Peace Now used the W word).

One of the significant moves made by the government in Judea and Samaria since the outbreak of the war was declaring some 6,000 acres as state lands, which allowed the state to build there. Peace Now noted that 2024 was a record year for land declared state land, which is about half of the entire area declared as state land since the 1994 Oslo Accords.

The new Peace Now report reveals:

• 25 new outposts were established.
• Dozens of roads have been carved out.
• 24,193 dunams (a little less than 6,000 acres) were declared as state lands.
• Plans for 8,721 housing units in the settlements have been promoted.
• 5 new settlements were established by cabinet decision.
• 3 outposts were qualified as “neighborhoods” of existing settlements.
• 70 illegal outposts were recognized as eligible for budgeting and infrastructure.

Here’s to you, John Oliver!

Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday: “To establish a Palestinian state means to abandon, God forbid, the center of the country to the Nazis and the next massacre. We are working on the ground to remove this threat from the agenda, to ensure security for the residents of the seam line, Gush Dan, and everywhere else in the country. We do this through strengthening settlements in construction, development, establishment and regulation of settlements and infrastructure, stopping the Arab takeover of the open areas, fighting the terrorist financing of the Palestinian Authority and its leaders and imposing complete Israeli control of the territory. This is the only way.”

According to the Peace Now report, as part of the coalition funds approved by the government in December 2023, NIS 75 million ($20 million) was included for “security components for young settlements in Judea and Samaria” for 2024, compared to NIS 28 million ($7.3 million) in 2023.

“Young settlements” is the government’s code for outposts.

Now it turns out that these funds were intended, among other things, for farms in Judea and Samaria. Here’s a breakdown of the complete list of coalition spending:

• Farms – NIS 38 million ($10.1 million)
• Outposts – NIS 25 million ($6.53 million)
• Protected public buildings – NIS 4.55 million ($1.19 million)
• Road starts – NIS 7.7 million ($2.01 million)

Total: about NIS 75 million ($19.59 million) for implementation in 2024.

Here’s the most satisfying part of the Peace Now report: at least 30 farms are now receiving security components of the type financed by the Settlement Division – including five farms that have had sanctions imposed on them or their owners:

• Moshe Sharvit’s farm (sanctioned by the US and other countries) received a Ranger and solar panels.
• Zvi Bar Yosef’s farm (sanctions by the US and other countries) received security cameras.
• Neria Ben Fazi’s farm (sanctions by the US and other countries) received solar panels.
• Shuvi Eretz farm (its owner, Aden Levy, was sanctioned by the UK) received a Ranger.
• Meshek Man (its owner, Issachar Man, was sanctioned by the US and other countries) received a Ranger and an electric gate.

Finally, the Peace Now report notes that the powers related to the settlements were appropriated from the army and transferred to an official under Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who appointed a settler to the position known as the civil deputy of the head of the Civil Administration. This deputy is the de facto governor of the settlements and is not subordinate to the Civil Administration but directly to Minister Smotrich.

The legal counsel position at the Civil Administration was transferred from the army to an array of attorneys under Minister Smotrich.

The government also assumed enforcement powers in some of Area B, which is under the civil authority of the Palestinian Authority. Following a cabinet decision, the Commander of the IDF Central Command signed orders that give Israel the authority to destroy PA Arab homes in the area of the preserve which had been given under the Oslo Accords to the PA so it would prevent construction there, but the PA turned around and initiated construction in the preserve. Well, no more.

Thank you, Peace Now, for the wonderful news.