Recently, the Israeli Cabinet approved a resolution that significantly allows speeding up the process of approving new buildings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
According to the controversial resolution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government passed all effective control over planning, approval and construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist settlement advocate.
Earlier, settlements in the occupied West Bank came under Israeli military control and went through six phases in the construction process that were overseen by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military’s civil body that administers the West Bank, while objections could be made at any of the stages.
The new decision reduces the defense minister's previously required five approvals during the settlement planning process down to one, making it far easier for the Israeli government to build, without any meaningful restrictions or external considerations, in territory that is under military occupation. Besides, it hands the authority to approve new construction and retroactively legalize outposts deemed illegal under Israeli law to a minister who has openly declared that there is room only for Jewish self-determination in all of the territory west of the Jordan River, and who has openly declared his intention to apply full Israeli sovereignty to the entirety of the West Bank without granting citizenship to more than 3 million Palestinians living there.
On his part, Smotrich noted that the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, under his authority, is set to hold deliberations on the approval of 4,560 housing units in the West Bank settlements. He said these units, together with other planning projects advanced earlier this year, “make the six months since this government was formed a record for the rate of settlement construction planning in the last decade.”
“The construction boom in Judea and Samaria and in all parts of our country continues. As we promised, today we are advancing the construction of thousands of new units in Judea and Samaria ... We will continue to develop the settlements and strengthen Israel’s hold on the territory,” added Smotrich, who lives near the northern West Bank in the illegal settlement of Kedumim.
Israel’s new hardline government – which includes ultra-Orthodox parties and a far-right ultranationalist religious faction – had put settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank at the top of its priorities. Since Bottom of Form took office in January, Netanyahu’s coalition has approved 7,000 new housing units in the occupied West Bank. Moreover, the Israeli government amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace.
Israel’s new plan will inexorably lead to Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory in everything but name, with future "de jure" annexation then merely a formality. It tramples on the Palestinians’ legitimate hopes for independence and self-determination, and will further highlight the inequities inherent in Israel’s administration of the West Bank.
Palestinians seek the territory and the Gaza Strip for a future independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Israeli government, on the other hand, has made clear its priority is to undermine the possibility of a two-state outcome.
The U.S. and international community have repeatedly warned that settlement expansion would be a devastating blow to the two-state solution. However, many experts and observers believe the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied territories is already all but impossible due to Israel’s constantly expanding settlement enterprise, with upwards of more than 750,000 Jewish settlers living in nearly 250 official and unofficial settlements throughout East Jerusalem and the West Bank, many strategically located to make Israel’s control of the land permanent.
Israel’s new plans have been widely opposed by the international community, including the United Nations, the United States and European Union, Türkiye and human rights organizations.
The move comes as U.S. officials have warned against Israel’s expansion in the West Bank settlement, saying that the expansion undermines its plans to achieve a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
“We have long made clear our concerns about additional settlements in the West Bank, that we don’t want to see actions taken that are going to make a two-state solution much more difficult to achieve,” White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said during the White House press briefing.
“We don’t want to see steps taken that only increase the tensions and we’ve been very clear about that. Nothing’s changed about our policy,” Kirby added.
On his part, U.S. Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that the U.S. was “deeply troubled” by the settlement expansion plan and the reports of changes to the processes for planning and approval of settlements.
“The U.S. opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve and are an obstacle to peace. We call on the Government of Israel to fulfill the commitments it made in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and return to a dialogue aimed at de-escalation,” he added.
Türkiye also condemned the decision. "We condemn the Israeli authorities’ increased illegal settlement activities and the announced plans for the construction of 4,500 new illegal settlement units in at least 19 localities of the West Bank,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
Noting that the acts by the Israeli government seriously undermine permanent peace and are completely against international law and U.N. parameters, the ministry dubbed the settlement activities “unacceptable.”
“Türkiye will continue to support the efforts towards the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it stated.
On its part, Peace Now said: “Israel is moving towards full annexation of the West Bank and does not intend to allow security or diplomatic considerations to stop it. The government has decided to tie the fate of the residents of Israel to the messianic vision of endless settlements among millions of Palestinians whose rights are being trampled upon every morning. Control over planning has passed into Smotrich’s hands but the cost of construction will be borne by us all.”
Israel’s settlement expansion would simply be the culmination of Israel’s plans for dividing, controlling and de facto annexation of the West Bank even without a formal declaration. Annexation is a form of aggression, a violation of a jus cogens prohibition (overriding principles of international law), an international crime, and no territorial acquisition or special advantage resulting from aggression “is or shall be recognized as lawful” under international laws.
