A Peace Now report last Friday revealed an unprecedented increase in settlement plan approvals. In less than three months, the Planning Council in the Territories approved more housing units than it did throughout all of last year. Between January 1 and March 19, 2025, the Israeli authorities approved 10,503 housing units, surpassing the 9,971 approved in all of 2024.
On Saturday night, the Netanyahu government advanced Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s proposal to legitimize more settlements by approving the splitting of 13 Judea and Samaria municipalities, granting the offshoots official recognition as independent settlements. This recognition marks a significant step that will greatly boost their growth and development.
The move was implemented as part of the work of the Settlement Administration, which operates under the authority of Minister Smotrich.
Here is a list of the new settlements:
- Alon
- Haresha
- Krem Reim
- Neria
- Migron
- Shevut Rachel
- Ovnat
- Brosh Ha’Bikah
- Leshem
- Nofei Nehemiah
- Tal Menashe
- Ibei HaNahal
- Geva’ot
Until now, these localities were officially considered part of their “mother” localities, sometimes for decades, creating significant challenges in their daily operations. Granting each of them recognition as a de facto independent locality is a crucial step that will greatly aid in their progress and development.
In June 2023, the Netanyahu government removed the political echelon’s direct control over planning processes in the liberated territories. Before this decision, each stage in advancing settlement plans required prior approval from the defense minister, a post that was held (with few exceptions) by politicians who were hostile to the settlement enterprise.
About a year and a half later, in November 2024, the pace of plan approvals in the liberated territories underwent a significant shift. Instead of meeting once per quarter, the Planning Council began meeting weekly, approving hundreds of housing units at a time. It was part of the fully-right-wing government’s effort to normalize settlement planning while reducing public and international scrutiny. Also, with the growing concern in Israel about a repeat of the October 7 atrocities, but this time coming from the Palestinian Authority, the government is pushing the planning process in Judea and Samaria to create a defensive wall of Jewish settlements between the centers of Arab terrorism and Israel’s soft belly in the Tel Aviv and Sharon areas, ensuring that as many plans as possible are in place for future construction.
The Peace Now report highlighted a recent development in the expansion of Jewish settlements, focusing on the Otniel settlement south of Hebron. The plan aims to legalize several dozen homes that were built without government approval decades ago and also adds 156 new housing units. During a discussion at the Supreme Planning Council in January, the architect behind the plan explained that it had not progressed previously due to land ownership issues. However, with those problems now resolved, the plan is moving forward.
The solution came in the roads leading to the new Jewish neighborhood passing above private Arab-owned land on bridges, thus connecting Otniel to Hebron without violating the private ownership of the lands below. However, Peace Now laments the fact that constructing the bridges also impacts property values beneath them, potentially pushing the landowners to sell their land to Jewish buyers.
Slowly but surely:
The great Rebbi Ḥiyya and Rebbi Simeon ben Halaphta were walking in the valley of Arbel before morning and saw the doe of dawn that started radiating. The great Rebbi Ḥiyya said to Rebbi Simeon ben Halaphta: Great man, so will be the deliverance of Israel; it starts out very small and grows and radiates as it goes on (Yerushalmi Yuma 3b).
