Israel to build 61 new towns in Judea, Samaria

Israeli cabinet slated to approve spending plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new towns in Judea and Samaria, one of the broadest expansion programs for the area in years.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli cabinet is expected to vote Thursday on a major funding plan that would advance the de facto establishment of 61 new Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, in one of the most significant settlement-expansion moves in years.

According to a draft government decision obtained by Axios reporter Barak Ravid, the proposal would allocate more than $350 million over several years to move newly authorized settlements from the planning stage toward physical construction.

“While the Trump administration — along with governments across Europe and the Middle East — is focused on the escalating crisis with Iran, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve on Thursday a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the occupied West Bank,” Ravid wrote on X.

The proposal is being advanced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and would fund temporary residential compounds, public buildings, community infrastructure and support services. It would also provide funding for infrastructure needed for permanent settlements, including roads, utilities, land preparation, water connections and sewage systems.

The plan follows a government decision approved last week that allocated roughly $35 million for planning and regulatory work related to the same settlements. The new proposal would move the project from planning toward implementation.

“In practice, it would allow the government to establish temporary settlement sites while planning procedures are still underway, creating facts on the ground that could later evolve into permanent settlements,” Ravid wrote.

The cabinet vote comes as the government faces the possibility of a Knesset dissolution vote that could trigger new elections and complicate future large-scale budget allocations. It also comes as international attention is focused on the escalating US-Iran crisis, which Ravid said has overshadowed the settlement move.

The settlements included in the proposal are located in areas considered strategically significant, including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills and in areas that would create territorial continuity between existing settlements.

“Many of the settlements included in the proposal are located in strategically sensitive areas,” Ravid wrote, “including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, and in locations designed to create territorial continuity between existing settlements.”

Supporters of the plan say the communities involved have already been authorized and that the funding is intended to provide infrastructure and services for existing or approved settlement sites.

A spokesperson for Smotrich told Reuters the cabinet vote would strengthen Israeli settlements and said the sites should not be viewed as new settlements, but as existing ones.

Peace Now, which opposes Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria, said the plan would bypass standard planning procedures and allow the government to begin establishing settlements before final statutory approvals are complete. The group said the decision would amount to an accelerated process for turning outposts and newly approved communities into permanent settlements.

The latest proposal follows a series of settlement decisions over the past year, including the approval of dozens of new settlements and the advancement of thousands of housing units. Last week, Smotrich announced plans for more than 2,000 new homes in three settlements.

The cabinet was expected to discuss the plan Thursday, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment publicly on the reported funding decision.