Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has taken steps to entrench the powerful Settlements Administration agency he established in 2023 within the Defense Ministry to make it more difficult for any potential new government to dismantle.

According to a statement put out by Smotrich’s office, he, together with the Defense Ministry and the Civil Service Commission, has turned the Settlements Administration, which has broad powers over civilian life in the West Bank, into a formal agency of the Defense Ministry.

In addition, the term of the civilian head of the Civil Administration — which also has significant control over civilian matters in the West Bank — who answers to Smotrich, was extended from four to six years.

Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, claimed that these changes will help to perpetuate his success in massively expanding the settlement enterprise over the last four years and make it more difficult for a new government to undo those gains.

“The decision to anchor the Settlements Administration and the position of deputy head of the Civil Administration will de facto implement the continuation of the settlement revolution and the emphasis and priority on the civilian aspect of life in Judea and Samaria, and not just as a ‘second fiddle’ to the security component, even after the elections, when the mechanism built by Minister Smotrich over the years will continue to function even after his tenure,” his office stated, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

During his tenure in office and as a result of the new powers Smotrich took control of through the Settlements Administration, 185 new illegal outposts were established in the West Bank and were not demolished, over 40,000 housing units were approved for construction in settlements, and 103 new settlements were........

© The Times of Israel