Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pledged to develop West Bank settlements as housing starts in those Jewish communities rose by 68% in the first two quarters of this year, according to Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) data.
The Settlement Affairs Ministry pledged to “preserve state land in Judea and Samaria for cultivation and development,” in a document published Monday in which the government laid out its priorities for the near future.
It also stated that it would develop “settlements and villages in Judea and Samaria.”
Bennett, whose right-wing Yamina Party supports West Bank settlement construction, has been clear since he took office that he has no intention of freezing any such building.
A number of parties in his government, however, are opposed to such building, even though it is now part of the coalition’s work program.
Still, despite Bennett’s statements, the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria has not met to substantially approve or advance settlement construction plans since January 2021. This includes the period since Bennett’s government was sworn into office in June.
A council meeting to advance plans for 2,223 settler homes slated for August was canceled. A new date has not yet been set.
The lag in approvals came after the spike in West Bank settlement planning that occurred during the four years of the former Trump administration, but those approvals did not translate into an increased rate of building. There were fewer settler housing starts during the four years of the Trump administration than in the last four years of the Obama administration.
In 2020, which was also the last year of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure, there were only 1,285 settler housing starts, one of the lowest such numbers in a decade.
In contrast, during the first six months of this year, ground was broken for 979 new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria.
There was, however, a 7% drop in the number of finished homes in the first half of this year, when compared with the first six months of 2020. As of the end of June, 1,091 settler homes were completed compared with the 1,013 that were finished in the first half of last year.
According to the CBS, the rate of settler population growth dropped in 2020 to 2.3%, the lowest in the history of the movement.
Bennett is not the only one in his party to speak of the need for settlement development. On Tuesday, Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana pledged to prioritize synagogues in Judea and Samaria when allocating budgets.