Israel's Smotrich sets out plan to 'Judaise' Arab population centres

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday laid out his party's plan to dramatically increase the number of Jews living in two areas of the country with large Arab-Israeli populations, ahead of Israeli elections in October. "Today I present to you the Religious Zionism's plan for the Judaisation of the Negev and Galilee: the revolution we carried out in Judea and Samaria – we will carry out in the Negev and Galilee, and on a massive scale," he wrote on X, using the Hebrew names for the West Bank. Smotrich said that the goal of the project is "one million additional Jews in the Negev and Galilee, 40 new settlements, dozens of farms, expansion of existing settlements and hundreds of thousands of housing units," adding that "we will cancel the reckless plans in the Arab settlements that have seized land reserves and threaten Jewish settlement in the area." According to current polling, Smotrich's party, which is a member of Netanyahu's coalition government, is on the cusp of reaching the electoral threshold needed to enter the next parliament. ״כן. מייהדים!״ אני מציג בפניכם היום את תכנית הציונות הדתית ליהוד הנגב והגליל: את המהפכה שעשינו ביו״ש - נעשה בנגב ובגליל, ובענק. היעד: מיליון יהודים נוספים בנגב ובגליל, 40 יישובים חדשים, עשרות חוות, הרחבת היישובים הקיימים ומאות אלפי פתרונות דיור. נבטל את התוכניות המופקרות… pic.twitter.com/i9n3bqAnQa — בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) August 27, 2026