Israel Authorizes the Largest West Bank Settlement Growth in Decades: 22 New Settlements

Israel has made 22 settlements legal in the occupied West Bank, which has made Palestinians angry and raised worries of permanent annexation.

Israel has given the go-ahead for the biggest growth of Jewish towns in the occupied West Bank in more than 30 years. The approval includes 22 new communities, some of which are legal outposts and some of which are brand-new developments.

A number of them are already there as outposts that were built without permission from the government. They will now be allowed under Israeli law. Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich say that some of them are brand new.

International law says that the settlements are illegal, which Israel strongly disagrees with. They are still one of the main problems in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Many people think that Israel’s activities go against the Fourth Geneva Convention, which says that civilians can’t be moved into occupied areas.

Katz said that the move “stops the establishment of a Palestinian state that would put Israel in danger,” but the Palestinian presidency called it a “dangerous escalation.”

Peace Now, an Israeli group that fights against settlements, called it “the biggest move of its kind in more than 30 years” and said it would “dramatically change the West Bank and make the occupation even stronger.”

Katz explained that the choice was a “strategic move that stops the establishment of a Palestinian state that would put Israel at risk and serves as a buffer against our enemies.”

“This is a clear choice about the future of the country, a response to Zionism, and a matter of national security,” he said.

Smotrich said, “Next step sovereignty!” and said it was a “once-in-a-generation decision.”

But a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank that are not fully controlled by Israel, called it a “dangerous escalation” and said that Israel was keeping the area in a “cycle of violence and instability.”

Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Reuters, “This extremist Israeli government is doing everything it can to stop the creation of a free Palestinian state.”

Peace Now’s head, Lior Amihai, said, “The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise. Its main goal is to annex the occupied territories and grow the settlements.”

Elisha Ben Kimon, an Israeli reporter for the famous news site Ynet who writes about the West Bank and settlements, said that between 70% and 80% of ministers wanted to officially take over the West Bank.

I believe Israel is just a few steps away from calling this place its own.

“They think that this time will never come back, so they don’t want to miss this chance, which is why they’re doing this now,” Mr. Ben Kimon said.

Most of the rest of the world did not agree with Israel’s decision to formally take over East Jerusalem in 1980.