Cornerstone laid for new settlement development in Ariel set to include 12,000 housing units

The cornerstone for a new neighborhood in the settlement city of Ariel is laid in a celebratory ceremony attended by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other senior cabinet ministers.

The new neighborhood constitutes the first part of plans to build some 12,000 housing units west of the city in the northern West Bank, and the expansion of the city from its current population of approximately 22,000 residents to 80,000, according to a statement by Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun’s office.

Only 730 units of the planned 12,000 have, however, received planning permission so far.

“There is no more joyful noise than the noise of the bulldozers that are building Israel and destroying the idea of ​​the Palestinian state,” says Smotrich at the ceremony.

“We are doing everything to build the Land of Israel and destroy the terrible idea of ​​those who are trying to take over the region in order to harm the State of Israel,” he continues.

Chetboun praises Smotrich and other cabinet ministers for their collaboration in advancing the project.

“The finance minister builds houses, Aliyah and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer brings immigrants to settle here, and all of this is happening with the full support of Construction and Housing Minister Haim Katz, who backs and supports the development and upgrade for the capital of Samaria [the northern West Bank],” says Chetboun.