The Supreme Planning Council of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration is set to advance plans for hundreds of new homes in Eli, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday.
Smotrich, who also oversees civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria in his role at the Defense Ministry, said the proposal includes 763 housing units, which would roughly triple the size of the community, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria.
The homes that are being advanced are located in neighborhoods established “in memory of a number of soldiers from the community who fell in Israel’s wars, including Roi Klein, Eliraz Peretz and Amishar Ben David, my dear cousin,” Smotrich continued.
The minister said planning authorities would also advance a separate plan for 90 housing units in Har Adar, near Jerusalem, calling it a significant step for a community “that has been waiting years for the promotion of new construction.”
“While an Eisenkot-Yair Golan government would destroy and dismantle, we will continue building more and more,” he concluded, in reference to the two opposition politicians, Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot and The Democrats head Golan, seeking to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office in the Oct. 27 election.
Netanyahu’s government has led an unprecedented drive to expand Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria, having approved tens of thousands of homes and dozens of new communities in the past three-and-a-half years.
In June, the Israeli Cabinet approved a 1.3 billion shekel ($426 million) plan to establish and develop dozens of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
According to the Cabinet decision, which was first published by Channel 12 News on July 14, the government will finance rapid initial construction consisting of prefabricated buildings, including up to 15 homes and two public buildings at each location.
The funding implements a March Cabinet decision approving dozens of new communities across Samaria, the Binyamin region, the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion and the Dead Sea area.
