Israel Set to Approve Thousands of Building Permits in West Bank

Facts

• On Sunday, the Israeli government held a meeting that removed several barriers to settlement expansion in the West Bank, with approved plans for 4,560 housing units being on the agenda, of which 1,332 are up for final approval.¹
• The changes will lift red tape on the settlement housing approval process and decrease the number of necessary approvals from at least five stages to just one — making it easier for Israel to expand its settlements.²
• This decision will also effectively reduce the ability of foreign governments to press Israel to suspend such plans, as the authority to approve building plans will be transferred from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to controversial pro-settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.³
• The move generated criticism from the US, which said that it was "deeply troubled" by the possibility of increased settlement expansion in the West Bank, saying that said expansion is an "obstacle to peace." The US also called on Israel to fulfill obligations it made during past dialogue in Aqaba, Jordan, and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and return to talks aimed at de-escalation.⁴
• The international community widely considers settlements in the West Bank, built on land captured by Israel in 1967, as illegal — with their presence being a fundamental issue in the peace talks. Palestinian groups decried the policy shift — and the Palestinian Authority launched a boycott over a joint economic meeting with Israel.⁵
• Over 500K Jewish Israeli settlers live alongside around 2.5M Palestinians in the West Bank, a land that most Palestinians view as the heartland of a future Palestinian state along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²The Times of Israel, ³Axios, ⁴The National, ⁵Guardian, and ⁶Associated Press.

Narratives

• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Middle East Eye. More and more, Israel demonstrates that it's neither interested in peace nor coexistence. Israel's ultimate goal is to colonize the entire region between the river and the sea piece by piece, either disenfranchising the indigenous Palestinian population or outright ethnically cleansing them.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Jerusalem Post. Though the Palestinians and left-wing groups may criticize settlement expansion, the West Bank — known to many as Judea and Samaria — is an inextricable part of the Jewish homeland. Additionally, settlement expansion is also necessary to prevent a Palestinian takeover, which could lead to the formation of a terrorist state in the region.

Predictions