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After Canada sanctions ‘extremist settlers,’ Israel legalizes 5 towns in Judea and Samaria

Hours after Canada sanctions settlement organization and ‘extremist settlers,’ Israeli security cabinet votes to legalize five towns in Judea and Samaria and to sanction the Palestinian Authority.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s security cabinet voted late Thursday night to recognize five fledgling Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and to impose new sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

The vote came just hours after the Canadian government announced it was sanctioning organizations and individuals it described as “extremist settlers.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa would impose sanctions on seven individuals and five entities – including several small communities and two organizations.

The sanctioned individuals include Daniella Weiss – former Mayor of Kedumim and a prominent settlement activist – Ben Zion Gopstein, head of the anti-assimilation organization Lehava, Einan Ben-Nir Amram Tanjil, Elisha Yered, Ely Federman, Meir Mordechai Ettinger, and Shalom Zicherman.

The groups sanctioned include Amana, the organization formed by Gush Emunim activists in 1976 to purchase and develop real estate in Judea and Samaria.

In a late-night vote Thursday following Joly’s announcement, the Israeli security cabinet backed a series of measures pushed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party), including the normalization of five small towns in Judea and Samaria.

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The towns selected for recognition include Evyatar, Givat Assaf, and Sadeh Efraim in Samaria, and Heletz and Adoraim in Judea.

In addition, the decision green lighted tenders for thousands of new homes in Judea and Samaria.

The security cabinet also voted to impose sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials, cancelling their exit visas.

Furthermore, the decision returns control from the Palestinian Authority to Israel over a nature reserve in the Judean Desert which watchdog groups have claimed has been damaged by unauthorized Arab construction, in violation of past agreements with Israel.

“We congratulate the cabinet on this move which will strengthen the State of Israel and we thank Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Bezalel Smotrich for leading the initiative,” said Israel Ganz, Mayor of the Benjamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, the umbrella group representing all Israeli municipalities in Judea and Samaria.

“Judea and Samaria is crucial for the security of central Israel and strengthening it is reinforcement for Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Modi’in and Jerusalem.”

“Especially in these difficult days, when we are at war for our home, strengthening the communities in the land of our ancestors is the proper Zionist response to the countries that are trying to promote a stranglehold on Israel by establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of the land over the beds of our children. We will continue to work with all parties so that more “young communities” receive the recognition they deserve.”

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Smotrich said the recognition was in response to the unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood by several European countries.

“The activities against the State of Israel and in favor of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state got just the Zionist response they deserve,” tweeted Smotrich after the vote.