Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed overnight that he intends to establish a new city in Gush Etzion by approving thousands of housing units in the Giv'ot settlement. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosenthal welcomed the move, noting the bloc has doubled its settlements over the past three years, according to Smotrich's office.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich publicly outlined his plan to establish a new city in Gush Etzion by authorizing thousands of housing units in the existing settlement of Giv'ot. The announcement, made overnight, represents a significant expansion of the settlement bloc in Judea. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosenthal welcomed the initiative, noting that the bloc's number of settlements has doubled over the past three years. No specific timeline, housing-unit count, or budget was disclosed in the initial statement. The Zioneer reported earlier this morning that Smotrich announced a new town around Giv'ot; the current revelation adds the explicit city-scale ambition and the housing-unit figure. A previous background item noted the government's recent consideration of a classified settlement budget in the security cabinet.
3 developments
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- StrongSmotrich: I canceled Hebron Accord's civil planning clauses, restoring full Israeli authority
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Source and signal
- Internal intake