The West Bank revolution: How Bezalel Smotrich changed Israel's map for the better - opinion
Since the current government took office at the end of 2022, it has approved the establishment or retroactive legalization of 104 Jewish communities there.
Over the past four years, Judea and Samaria have witnessed remarkable change. Since the current government took office at the end of 2022, 104 Jewish communities have been established or legalized retroactively. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves in the Defense Ministry, has overseen civilian affairs in these territories through the newly created Settlement Administration.
Smotrich has reshaped settlement policy, approving plans and funding for 34 communities this summer alone, including in Samaria, the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council area, the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion, the Hebron region, and the Dead Sea area. This settlement revolution is taking place amid steady Jewish demographic growth, with 541,085 Jews living in these territories as of January 1, a 2.2% increase from the previous year.
Some of the government's decisions have corrected anomalies that persisted for years, granting official status to communities that existed in bureaucratic limbo. The government has also restored four northern Samaria communities uprooted under Ariel Sharon's 2005 disengagement plan. The importance of this development cannot be measured solely by numbers; it is also evident in the map.
Strengthening the Jewish presence in northern Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and elsewhere reinforces Israel's hold on strategic areas, such as the mountain ridge overlooking the country's heartland and the eastern flank along the Jordan River. Smotrich's revolution is about more than just building houses; it is about protecting state land, counteracting unauthorized Palestinian construction, and extending Jewish activity into open spaces, along roads, and across ridgelines.
Smotrich has also changed the way the government handles settlement development. Planning procedures have been accelerated, longstanding communities legalized, and the Settlement Administration institutionalized within the Defense Ministry. The government has also invested over NIS 1 billion for roads and infrastructure, transforming settlements into permanent fixtures on the Israeli landscape.
This revolution marks a significant shift in the government's approach to settlement development, closing off the option of establishing a hostile Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. For those who believe a Palestinian state in this region would be a catastrophic and strategic disaster, the Smotrich revolution matters greatly.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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