Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently submitted a decision proposal to transfer millions of shekels to Judea and Samaria to strengthen the region following the recent wave of terror attacks, Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
According to the report, to encourage Israelis to move to Judea and Samaria, Smotrich's proposal includes economic and social components that would make life in the region more attractive. However, diplomatic and security sources who saw the plan's details say it includes components that are beyond civil and are in the diplomatic realm as far as their scope. Among those components: Interior Ministry recognition of sites that are still in the process of recognition regarding grants, building a plan to resettle northern Samaria, demographic expansion of the southern Hebron Hills, Megillot, and Jordan Valley regions, and the evacuation of IDF camps for residences.
One of the plan's architects, Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Stock discussed the criticism of the plan and said it would not lead to diplomatic difficulties. She says the residents of Judea and Samaria are not second-class citizens, and just as the government strengthens the Gaza periphery after a security hardship, it should do the same in Judea and Samaria.
US State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel, during his daily briefing, mentioned the report and condemned the plan. "The expansion of settlements undermines the geographic viability of a two-state solution. It incites tensions, and it further harms trust between the two parties. We strongly oppose the advancements of settlements and urge Israel to refrain from this activity, including the promotion of outposts. We take this issue very seriously, and it impinges on the viability of a two-state solution," Patel said, answering a question by an Arab journalist regarding the issue.