Smotrich announces grazing subsidies to be increased for West Bank farmers

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces that state grants from the Agriculture Minister to Israeli farms in the West Bank will be increased in order to come into line with grants to farms inside Israel, with grazing subsidies to be available to farmers in both settlements and illegal outposts.

Smotrich makes his announcement during a visit to the illegal farming outpost of Mishkenot Harel in the central West Bank region, where he says the policy is designed to strengthen Israeli territorial control of the region and block the ability of the Palestinians to increase their control of the land.

“Our policy is aimed at preserving national land reserves, creating secure and strategic territorial contiguity, and curbing Palestinian efforts to expand their illegal control over lands in the region,” declares Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with control over the recently established Settlements Administration.

Some Israeli farmers in the West Bank, including those in illegal farming outposts, have received grazing subsidies in recent years to the tune of hundreds of thousands of shekels, including some that have been sanctioned by the US and other countries.

But last week Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter announced an expedited process for Israeli farmers in the West Bank to receive such grants, meaning that many more farms in the contested territory, including illegal outposts will, now be able to receive such funds.

“I am proud to lead a reformed policy that supports farmers and ranchers in Judea and Samaria and ensures the strength of the State of Israel on all fronts,” says Smotrich at Mishkenot Harel, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

He also thanks Dichter for implementing the change in policy, as well as Likud MK Avichay Buaron for helping advance the issue.

Yisrael Ganz, head of the Benjamin Regional Council in whose jurisdiction Mishkenot Harel lies, also welcomes the move, saying that it followed “giants steps taken by the government to establish the State of Israel in Judea and Samaria.”

Settlers on farming outposts largely raise livestock, with the explicit goal of asserting control over large swaths of West Bank land, which can be more easily accomplished by grazing sheep, goats, and cattle than by the establishment of residential settlements.