The Head of the IDF Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, signed official orders on Tuesday designating 18 new municipal jurisdictions for Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria, encompassing newly established towns, young pioneer settlements, and veteran localities. The move is part of the strategic policy spearheaded by Finance Minister and Defense Ministry Minister Bezalel Smotrich to expand and legally regularize Jewish settlement, bringing the total number of newly advanced jurisdictions to 70 in under a year.
1+Among the communities receiving newly delineated jurisdictions are Diah in the Binyamin region; Sa-Nur East and Shira in Samaria; Elisha and Tzuri in the Jordan Valley; alongside Keren Ya’ar, Masu’ot Har, Givat Adullam, and Pnei Kedem in Gush Etzion. In parallel, amended jurisdiction boundaries were signed for established towns, including Leshem, Itamar, and Rehan in Samaria, as well as Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley.
The initiative paves the way for extensive physical expansion across several regional councils:
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Karnei Shomron: The Dorot neighborhood is slated to expand and integrate into the council’s umbrella agreement with the Israel Land Authority.
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Efrat: The expansion of the Givat HaEitam neighborhood will enable the construction of thousands of new housing units.
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Oranit: The local council will expand for the first time beyond the security barrier, unlocking hundreds of new housing units to the north.
1+Minister Smotrich welcomed the signing, calling it “another significant milestone in the ongoing revolution across Judea and Samaria,” highlighting that 70 jurisdictional frameworks have been established in less than 12 months to fortify both pioneer and established communities. Smotrich added: “In the face of an Eisenkot-Lieberman-Golan political axis that seeks and plans to evacuate communities and establish a ‘Palestinian’ state—we are strengthening, developing, and fortifying Jewish settlement on the ground.”