JERUSALEM – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared plans to establish “22 new settlements” in the West Bank. The declaration includes legalizing existing outposts and constructing entirely new communities.

Bezalel Smotrich hailed the decision as “historic,” stating, “we have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision. Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the state of Israel.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz asserted that the move “anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism,” further claiming it is indeed “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.”

Among the settlements slated