Jewish settlers have drawn up a plan for a million Jewish people to reside in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by 2050, doubling the current settler population.
The international community considers all settlements illegal under international law, and the main obstacle to large-scale settlement expansion remains US president Joe Biden’s administration. Washington is pushing for a historic normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and it is unlikely that Riyadh will move forward with the deal if there is a significant increase in the number of Jews living in the West Bank
The plan by the Samaria (northern West Bank) region council includes building new cities, industrial zones, railway lines, an airport and a hospital. A large team of engineers, architects, geographers and professional consultants took a year to draw up the plan, which was presented this week to prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
It focuses on the northern part of the occupied West Bank, parts of which are only 20km from greater Tel Aviv, and the settlers argue that if implemented it could help alleviate Israel’s housing shortage and lower the high costs of apartments in the centre of the country.
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Samaria council chair Yossi Dagan sent Mr Netanyahu a letter stating: “Adopt the plan, strengthen Zionism, and lower the costs of housing in the country.” He stressed the importance of Samaria “to secure the existence of the state of Israel due to its strategic location in the heart of the country, on mountain ranges that have a commanding view” of Israel’s coastal plain.
The Oslo accords, signed by Israel and the Palestinians in the mid-1990s, divided the West Bank into areas controlled by the Palestinians (areas A), Israel (areas C) and areas under Palestinian civilian and Israeli military control (areas B). All the areas designated for settlement expansion in the new plan are in areas C, on lands already under full Israeli control.
Only one settlement in the northern West Bank – Ariel, with a population of 20,000 – is large enough to be classified as a settlement. The new plan envisages 25 settlement cities in the area by 2050.
Plans to significantly increase the number of Jews living in the West Bank are not new: the difference now is the degree of influence the settlers exert over the government. Two far-right parties, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) and the Religious Zionist party, signed a coalition deal prioritising settlement expansion.
Mr Netanyahu’s government has already embarked on a settlement construction drive across the West Bank and illegal hilltop outposts have been deemed legitimate. Religious Zionist party leader Bezalel Smotrich, in his role as finance minister, ensures large funds for settlement projects.
