Israel's approval of more than 2.3 billion shekels ($790 million) for illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank marks a shift from politically approving settlements to directly financing their establishment on Palestinian land, Palestinian officials told The New Arab , warning the move amounts to "state financing for de facto annexation".
Israel's government on Tuesday approved two new funding packages for settlements in the occupied West Bank, with far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock announcing the measures.
The packages include a previously undisclosed allocation of 1.3 billion Israeli shekels ($431 million) approved in June for the establishment of 34 settlements, which Israeli outlet Ynet said had been delayed amid tensions with the United States.
A further 1.075 billion shekels ($358 million) was approved to build new roads serving settlements across the occupied territory.
According to Ameer Dawood, Director of Publishing and Documentation at the Colonisation & Wall Resistance Commission, the new funding represents a significant escalation in Israeli settlement policy.
"The inclusion of settlements evacuated under the 2005 Disengagement Plan, including 'Homesh', 'Sa Nur', 'Ganim' and 'Kadim', confirms that the Israeli government is pursuing a broader plan to rebuild colonial control in the northern West Bank and link Jenin with Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley," Dawood told The New Arab .
The 2005 Disengagement Plan, introduced by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saw Israel dismantle all settlements in the Gaza Strip and evacuate four settlements in the northern occupied West Bank. The latter have since become a focus of Israeli settler efforts to re-establish a permanent presence.
Dawood said the latest funding packages went beyond political declarations.
"We can say that this is state financing for de facto annexation, and it requires practical international measures rather than further statements of concern," he said.
Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, who also oversees the civilian administration in the occupied West Bank, said the funding was intended to strengthen Israeli control over the territory and "kill the idea of establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the country".
"There has never been a Zionist-settlement decision of this size in the whole history of Zionism since it was founded," he added.
According to Smotrich, the funding will establish "pioneer neighbourhoods" in newly approved settlements, including prefabricated homes, roads and supporting infrastructure.
He said the aim was to ensure the settlements "do not remain on paper, but are translated into reality on the ground", in what The Times of Israel said appeared to be an effort to make any future government less able to reverse the plans.
Israel's Knesset is expected to dissolve ahead of parliamentary elections in October, with recent Channel 12 polling placing opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and opposition parties collectively projected to win 69 seats compared with the coalition's 51.
Ofer Cassif, a Knesset member from the Palestinian-Jewish Hadash party, told The New Arab the government was attempting to cement irreversible facts on the ground before leaving office.
"Netanyahu's government is on a deadly rampage during its dying days," Cassif said, pointing to both the latest settlement measures and legislation concerning the occupied Palestinian territories.
Asked whether the funding would help shore up support among settlers ahead of the election, Cassif replied: "of course", adding that it would particularly benefit Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party.
"The latest mass funding allocation for the illegal settlements proves once more the Israeli government is directly responsible for all of the evils and terror of the settlements," Cassif said.
"While Israeli citizens, especially from the Arab-Palestinian society, experience [a] harsh socioeconomic crisis, the bandits of the settlements enjoy a superior welfare state," he added.
Israel's current government has approved 103 settlements since taking office at the end of 2022.
It has also transferred significant powers over the occupied West Bank to civilian authorities under Smotrich, a process Israeli watchdog Peace Now said was enabling the "rapid and systematic advancement of annexation objectives".