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Settlement funding set for approval
Israel’s cabinet is expected to approve a plan to allocate over 350 million dollars to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the West Bank, according to Axios’s Barak Ravid as cited by The Jerusalem Post.
The plan, promoted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, would involve the allocation of one billion shekels (337.8 million dollars) and is scheduled for discussion by the Security Cabinet chaired by Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and Reuters.
Peace Now said the Security Cabinet vote would bypass the usual planning process for settlements, while a spokesperson for Smotrich said the cabinet vote would strengthen Israeli settlements and that these are not new settlements but existing sites, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
The draft resolution described the funding as earmarked for roads and water, and it said the plan would connect settlement sites to infrastructure, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
In parallel, Reuters reported that Israel’s cabinet referred a plan to allocate 1 billion shekels ($339.7 million) for the establishment of new settlements in the occupied West Bank to the security cabinet, deferring a vote on the funds, according to Internazionale.
Smotrich, Peace Now, and Amnesty
Peace Now framed the Security Cabinet discussion as a way to bypass the standard settlement planning process, and it said Netanyahu’s government had approved the settlements in question over the past three years, according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
Amnesty International, meanwhile, accused Israel of a state-led and -sponsored campaign that amounted to a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" aimed at removing Palestinians and ultimately annexing the territory, and Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said, "Our report exposes that these abuses are not the result of a few ‘bad apples.'"
Amnesty also described the displacement campaign as not the product of “rogue” settlers, and it said “settler violence is not an aberration but an integral part of an organized state policy,” according to Al Jazeera.
In response to Amnesty’s report, Israel rejected international condemnation over expanded settlements, citing historical ties to the land, and it did not immediately respond to the Amnesty report, according to CBC.
The Al Jazeera report added that Amnesty said at least 117 villages in the West Bank have been subject to either complete or partial displacement due to settler attacks, resulting in about 5,910 people being “forced to leave their homes” between January 2023 and December 2025, according to Al Jazeera.
What’s at stake next
The funding plan’s stated purpose is to connect settlement sites to infrastructure and integrate them into state infrastructure, with Peace Now saying the money would cover construction of roads, land preparation, sewage systems, water connections, and temporary residential compounds, according to Al Jazeera Net and Internazionale.
“The displacement of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank forms part of a deliberate Israeli government strategy of ethnic cleansing rather than the actions of a few “rogue” settlers or far-right government ministers, according to global rights group Amnesty International”
The Al Jazeera Net report said the danger of the decision went beyond the budget size because it would bypass ordinary planning procedures through “military orders and legal exemptions” under the cover of “temporary projects,” and it cited Muayed Shaban warning of “intensified implementation.”
Amnesty linked the acceleration of displacement and annexation to settlement expansion and settler violence, and it said the process would not be possible without government support, according to CBC.
NBC News reported that a coalition of six countries announced joint sanctions on Israeli settlers and settlements in the West Bank, and it quoted the joint statement saying “Extremist violent settlers, with the backing of their supporters, continue to attack Palestinians and abuse their human rights.”
NBC News also reported that France barred Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country as part of new sanctions, and it quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying Smotrich is “actively promoting” the annexation of the West Bank, while Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the sanctions “disgraceful measures,” according to NBC News.
