Knesset panel okays millions for security of West Bank outposts, drawing criticism
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Knesset Finance Committee approves an additional NIS 200 million ($55 million) in coalition funds for the Settlements and National Projects Ministry, which comes following an increase of over NIS 300 million the ministry received in the supplementary budget approved earlier this month.
The money includes NIS 75 million for “security components” for illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank, including security fences, security gates, lighting, electricity supply, security cameras and similar items.
Another NIS 35 million is being directed toward strengthening the “social resilience” of rural villages throughout Israel, and NIS 20 million is going to settlement emergency response teams, which are teams of volunteers providing non-security assistance in times of crisis.
Knesset Finance Committee member Naama Lazimi (Labor) slams the transfer, describing it as politically motivated. She also questions why the security needs of settlements are being addressed by Strock’s ministry instead of the Defense Ministry.
“Right now, the government is opportunistically transferring [money] to criminal lawbreakers who build illegal outposts that stir up the region and harm security and the security forces, at a time of war and at the expense of those who need the money,” fumes Lazimi on X.
And Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says on X that the money is being transferred with the approval of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to Strock’s ministry, “for their party, for their politics, during a war” — referring to the Religious Zionism party, which Smotrich heads and of which Strock is a leading figure.
Strock in response insists that money is being put to good use, saying on X that it is for “20,000 people in the heart of hostile territory who don’t have a security coordinator, a fence, security lighting, cameras, and when all of their men are called up [to the IDF],” as well as for communal resilience for communities evacuated during the ongoing war.
