The Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is accelerating efforts to expand settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem ahead of the legislative election scheduled for 27 October, seeking to create facts on the ground that any future governing coalition may find difficult to change, according to a press report based on rights officials and diplomats.
Warnings over entrenching settlement realities
It is clear that the government is trying to create facts on the ground that the next government will find extremely difficult to change
The acceleration of settlement projects has coincided with a wave of settler attacks on Palestinians and their property, resulting in the displacement of thousands of people and the destruction of Palestinian residential communities. Data from rights organisations indicates that court rulings against Israelis involved in these violations remain extremely limited.
According to the report, settler violence, backed by Israeli government policies, has displaced more than 6,500 Palestinians and completely or partially displaced residents of 132 communities. Officials from Peace Now say settler attacks cannot be separated from settlement expansion; rather, they directly pave the way for the establishment of new settlements and outposts.
Funding for land registration and the E1 project
Mizrahi said the violence had facilitated the creation of additional settlements, explaining that the settlement of Metzuki Eretz was among several established at or near the sites of residential communities whose residents had been displaced. In parallel with developments on the ground, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich requested the allocation of 36 million shekels, or about 11.7 million US dollars, for land registration in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Rights organisations warned that the move could pave the way for a broad process of seizing Palestinian land for the benefit of the Israeli state. Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry has also issued tenders for the construction of 3,300 housing units as part of the controversial E1 settlement project. According to warnings cited in the report, the project would separate East Jerusalem and divide the West Bank into two parts, affecting geographical contiguity between Palestinian areas.
Plans for new settlements in the northern West Bank
The Israeli government has also announced plans to build 19 new settlements in the northern West Bank, alongside a return to settlements that were previously evacuated, including Kadim. According to the report, the plans aim to encircle the city of Jenin and dismantle Palestinian geographical contiguity.
Smotrich has openly said that the plans aim to “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state and pave the way for the absorption of one million new settlers in the West Bank. The minister is one of the government’s leading supporters of settlement expansion and land registration.
The report quoted diplomats as saying that the new government’s ability to change this course would depend on the parties forming the coalition after the election. They pointed to several possible scenarios, while opinion polls currently indicate that the most likely outcome is a coalition led by Gadi Eisenkot and comprising the current Israeli opposition forces.
With opinion poll results close and opposition parties divided in their positions, any future government’s ability to slow settlement expansion and curb settler attacks will depend on the nature of the coalition that takes power after the 27 October election.
