Bezalel Smotrich Unveils Plan to Settle One Million Jews

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a confrontational program titled "Yes. Judaize!" designed to expand Jewish settlement in the Negev and Galilee. The plan aims to increase the Jewish population in these regions by one million people through the creation of 40 new communities, agricultural farms, and hundreds of thousands of housing units.

To implement the project, Smotrich intends to secure control over the Israel Land Authority and the Planning Administration in the next government. He vowed to remove "anti-Zionist and post-Zionist elements" from these agencies and cancel development plans for Arab communities. Smotrich also proposed a "draconian" legal approach to security, suggesting that the possession of illegal weapons in Arab society be treated as a terrorism offense and calling for a 1.2 billion shekel prison facility to house detainees.

The proposal triggered widespread condemnation from Israel's Arab population and regional media outlets. Hadash chairman Yousef Jabareen and activists from the Abnaa al-Balad movement characterized the plan as a project of "ethnic cleansing" and "apartheid" intended to alter the demographic balance of the region. In response, Arab political leaders are calling for high voter turnout in upcoming elections to remove the current government and block the settlement project.