Copyright ynetnews
As Israel’s most right-wing government heads into an election season, ministers are racing to advance projects they see as central to their agendas. Beyond the Green Line, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has already led what many describe as a sweeping transformation — expanding settlement construction, declaring new state lands and agricultural farms, and reshaping how the government operates in the territory. Since the government took office, about 48,000 housing units have been advanced in West Bank settlements — an average of roughly 17,000 a year. The pace slowed somewhat in 2023 and 2024 due to reserve duty among key officials and bureaucratic delays, but 2025 has seen a significant surge. By the end of this year, the government is expected to have promoted construction of more than 50,000 housing units during its term. For comparison, the most active year for settlement expansion before this government was 2020, the final year of Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. president, when about 12,000 units were advanced. Smotrich has also set new records in declaring state lands. Since the current coalition was sworn in, it has designated 25,960 dunams (about 6,400 acres) as state land — nearly matching the total of 28,000 dunams declared over the previous 27 years combined. Pre-election moves Yoni Mizrahi, head of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch team, said that “although President Trump barred Israel from applying sovereignty, under the current government a de facto annexation is taking place that is clearly visible on the ground.” Still, the top priority for settler leaders remains preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Smotrich and his allies are expected to promote a series of measures in the coming months to solidify the changes they have achieved over the past three years. Infrastructure push Road projects have become a central tool in expanding settlements, signaling normalization and enabling further population growth. Smotrich and the Civil Administration he oversees view this period as a historic window of opportunity. Major sections of Highway 60, the main north-south artery through the West Bank, are undergoing extensive upgrades. North of Jerusalem — from the Hizma checkpoint through Sha’ar Binyamin to the British Police Junction — bulldozers are working rapidly to widen the road into what will effectively become a highway. Construction has progressed so quickly that reversing it could prove difficult, if not impossible. Farther south, the tunnels road near Jerusalem has already been expanded, along with several other key routes. Another major focus is expanding settlements in strategic areas to create contiguous blocs of Israeli communities while disrupting Palestinian territorial continuity. In May, the cabinet approved the legalization of 22 outposts, some of which already existed and others that were newly established. Among them were Mount Ebal and Sa-Nur, where no Jewish presence currently exists. Authorities aim to establish permanent presences there before the elections. The approvals have already been granted, and Washington is not expected to intervene. The E1 project Construction in the E1 corridor — a stretch of land between Jerusalem and the large settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim — carries major political and strategic significance. The area is considered a key corridor in former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plan for a future Palestinian state. On Aug. 20, a subcommittee of Israel’s Civil Administration approved a construction plan for 3,400 housing units in the area. Earlier that month, during a ceremony at the site, Smotrich defended the move, saying that when the international community seeks to recognize a Palestinian state, “there will be no land left on which to build it.” The government’s goal is to move quickly to the bidding stage — selecting a contractor and beginning visible work on the ground — before elections make it harder to complete. Reshaping land policy In Area C, which remains under full Israeli control, authorities are carrying out a sweeping land survey intended to shift the burden of proof of ownership from the state to Palestinian claimants. Until now, when determining whether an outpost or settlement was built legally, residents had to prove the land was not privately owned but had been declared state land. Once the new survey is completed, it will be easier for Israel to designate large areas as state land. Palestinians claiming ownership will be required to provide proof. The project, budgeted at hundreds of millions of shekels, was recently moved from the Civil Administration to the Justice Ministry — a shift that both symbolizes and reinforces greater governmental control. Beyond its symbolic assertion of sovereignty, the initiative represents a deep structural change in how land is classified. The government still needs to expand staffing and coordinate with legal advisers, but the goal is to accelerate the process and finish before elections. If completed, officials estimate that Israel could declare an average of 60,000 dunams (about 15,000 acres) of land per year in the West Bank as state land.
