Israeli finance minister unveils plan to ‘Judaize’ Negev, Galilee ahead of elections

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has unveiled a plan to “Judaize” the Negev in southern Israel and Galilee in the north by bringing 1 million Jews to the two areas, following what he described as a “settlement revolution” in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.

Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, published the plan Thursday evening on the party’s website under the title “Yes. Judaizing!”

“The settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria is coming to the Negev and Galilee,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the occupied West Bank.

He said the plan seeks to apply the “concept of action” used in the occupied West Bank to the Negev and Galilee.

The plan includes establishing 20 new settlements in Galilee and another 20 in the Negev, along with dozens of farms and measures to facilitate migration to areas he described as “strategic,” with the stated goal of bringing 1 million additional Jewish residents to the two regions.

Smotrich said his government would work to “remove planning barriers that hinder settlement and development,” change the priorities of planning institutions and return what he called the “Zionist and national interest” to the center of land policy.

The plan forms part of an election campaign ahead of Israel’s general elections scheduled for Oct. 27. A poll published Friday by Israeli daily Maariv showed that Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party would fail to win any Knesset seats if elections were held now.

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According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Religious Zionism party is seeking control of the Planning Administration and the Israel Land Authority in the next government, two bodies that play key roles in land planning, development and management.

Smotrich pledged to amend legislation, accelerate planning procedures and land tenders, and appoint officials with what he called a “Zionist and national vision” to key positions.

He also said he would work to cancel plans in Arab towns inside Israel, claiming they had “taken over land designated for housing and threaten Jewish settlement in the area.”

The Negev and Galilee are among the main areas of demographic overlap between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis.

Palestinians make up around 53% of the population in northern Israel, while Jews constitute the remainder. In the Negev, Jews make up around 70% to 74% of the population, while Arab Bedouins account for around 25% to 30%.

Smotrich previously said that since the current government was formed in late 2022, it had approved the establishment of 104 settlements and 160 settlement farms across the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, the number of Israeli occupiers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, was estimated at around 780,000 by the end of July, including 333,600 in illegal settlements in Jerusalem and 446,400 in the rest of the occupied West Bank.

The occupied West Bank has seen continued escalation in Israeli military raids and attacks by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians, alongside rising settler violence, since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

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