Israel Reduces Budgets across Ministries, Increases Funding for Settlement

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that under the title ‘Plundering Public Funds and diverting them to Settlements and Outposts’, the Settlement Monitoring Team of the ‘Peace Now’ movement stated in its latest report that the Netanyahu’s Government has been, since its formation at the end of 2022, accelerating the pace of planning and construction in West Bank settlements, adding that the government has allocated vast sums of public funds to settlements and settlers, and that its measures in this regard have resulted in the displacement of Palestinians from their land and homes.
The movement added that Israel has increased ‘defense spending’ in the new budget by NIS 42 billion in March 2026 to cover the costs of war with Iran. So, it has reduced budgets across all ministries, increased borrowing, and raised the deficit. Despite the adjustments, it maintained guaranteed funding for settlements, which constitutes a blatant theft of public funds for the benefit of a small segment of the government s base, while the government reduces ministry budgets to cover wartime needs, it pours money into settlements, while communities in the north and south have yet to recover, the government is funding new settlements and outposts that Israel will ultimately be forced to evacuate. The movement details the funds the government is investing in settlements, noting the allocation of NIS 2.75 billion for settlement development over the next 5 years.
In the meantime, journalist Elisha Ben Kimon revealed on the Ynet website that the government s plan included allocating hundreds of millions of shekels to establish dozens of new settlements, legalize outposts, and provide financial grants to existing settlements less than a year before the end of its term. On Jan. 25, 2026, the government approved allocating NIS 550 million for ‘strengthening security components’ in the settlements NIS‘325 million, protecting buses NIS 100 million, and ‘paving security roads’ NIS 125 million. The construction of new roads, including -dir-t roads, is a primary means of land confiscation. The roads enable settlers to establish more outposts, quickly access vast areas, and force Palestinians to relocate.
In the past 2 years, more than 222 km of new roads have been built in the West Bank, almost half of them on privately owned Palestinian land. The roads are being constructed under the pretext of security, at a cost of millions of shekels. The government is now seeking to invest a strategic sum to open more roads with the aim of seizing further areas. In Feb. 2026, the government also allocated NIS 244.1 million to a land registration and settlement program in Area C ‘land ownership documentation’, a process expected to displace thousands of Palestinians and enable Israel to control nearly half of the West Bank.
The movement added in its report that it has obtained an audio recording from a closed conference of the Religious Zionist Party, in which FM Bezalel Smotrich allocates NIS 7 billion for settlement roads over the next 5 years, a massive sum estimated at NIS 1.4 billion annually. For comparison, the report added, annual spending on intercity roads in Israel over the past 4 years has been around NIS 4.5 billion, based on budget implementation data for the intercity roads item in Israel.
The government has also allocated NIS 800 million to bolster civilian security along the eastern border. Last May, 2025, the government approved a plan to strengthen settlements along the eastern border of the occupied territories by establishing farms and educational institutions, such as, pre-military academies and religious schools, and expanding existing settlements. The plan encompasses a 15 km along the eastern border from Eilat to the Sea of Galilee, including a significant portion of the West Bank.
According to media reports, the cabinet appointed a team to prepare a detailed plan. In 2025, the government transferred NIS 80 million to the Ministry of Settlement Affairs, which in turn transferred the funds to the Settlement Division to implement an initial pilot program. In Feb. 2026, the Settlement Division issued a call for proposals for the establishment of farms and educational centers in accordance with the decision. In the 2026 budget, the government allocated NIS 847 million to the Ministry of Settlement Affairs ‘as a multi-year commitment’ for this project. Thus, the funding is already guaranteed.
The Netanyahu’ Government has also taken a series of decisions to fund tourism projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as part of its efforts to consolidate and deepen Israeli control. Since its formation at the end of 2022, it has allocated NIS 949 million to settlement tourism projects in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, which alone has received around NIS 489 million for such a purpose. This is a continuation of a policy pursued by successive Israeli governments. Since the late 1980s, the Ministry of Housing has consistently funded private security companies for settlers residing in Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. The companies provide security for settlers as they walk the streets and guard their homes around the clock.
In practice, the settlers themselves effectively control their own security budget in East Jerusalem. Every year, settlers seize additional homes and residential complexes in Palestinian neighborhoods, obligating the Ministry of Housing to fund security for these new sites. Consequently, the security budget continues to grow and expand without any official government decision´-or--dir-ective, but rather in response to the conditions created by the settlers on the ground. It should be noted that 3,500 - 4,000 settlers live in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, which means a cost of NIS 3,000 per month for each settler.
On another level, amidst the war of aggression against Iran and the settlers use of this war as a cover for their terrorist operations against Palestinians in the West Bank, the space for escaping responsibility for these actions has narrowed for both the Israeli government and the American Administration. Israeli political, security, and media circles say, ‘Even the Trump administration has woken up’. Mike Huckabee, the American ambassador to Jerusalem and a fervent supporter of a Greater Israel, warned against the actions and recently drew attention to the cumulative damage resulting from Jewish terrorist activity in the West Bank.
His counterpart in Washington, Yehiel Leiter, who serves as the Israeli ambassador to the United States, also stated in a recent interview with the Yediot Aharonot newspaper that the escalation of this phenomenon ‘is alienating Israel s friends in the United States’. The Israel Hayom newspaper also published a report on a discussion between US Vice President Jay D. Vance and PM Netanyahu in which Vance expressed his concern, adding that the Israeli government was also worried.
In a commentary published in Haaretz on March 29, Israeli writer Gideon Levy ridiculed the position of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio: ‘Marco Rubio is concerned about settler violence, and according to him, he knows that the Israeli government is also concerned. If this is the level of information you have, Mr. Secretary, then I am also concerned, very concerned. It is clear that you know nothing about Israel,´-or-that you are feigning ignorance, and it is not clear which is worse,’ adding the Israeli government isn’t concerned about settler violence-;- rather, it supports it.
Israel wants this violence because it serves its purposes, and pushes the army to fuel it. You should know, Mr. Secretary that in the eyes of the Israeli government and many Israelis, the perpetrators of settler violence are the heroes of our time, and it is clear that they are doing nothing to stop them.’
At this point, the Israeli army seeks to distance itself from the attacks committed by settlers and evade its responsibility to prevent them, even though it is responsible for the security of the Palestinian population in the occupied territories under international law. Within the context come the statements of Israeli ‘security sources’, published by the Haaretz newspaper on 31 March that in many cases enforcement against Jews who attack Palestinians in the West Bank is prevented because political and social pressure is exerted on the army s senior leadership, and that the army forces support extremist settlers, who attack Palestinian villages and population centers, expel them from them, seize them, and establish settlement outposts in them. Then the army assigns its forces to guard them and connect them to water, electricity, and transportation networks by paving roads to them.
The settlement outposts are included in the maps of the Israeli Home Front Command and included in warnings of missile launches from Iran towards Israel, so that these warnings falsely appear to show that hundreds of ‘Israeli towns’ in the West Bank are under missile attacks. The newspaper quoted an Israeli security official as saying that ‘there is constant pressure from rabbis and right-wing elements on the military leadership not to punish those soldiers. Everyone knows who is allowed to deal with and who is not allowed to deal with,’ and that dealing with certain units such as the ‘Netzah Yehuda battalion’ and the ‘Brigade Defense forces’ made up of armed settlers, must be done with extreme sensitivity.
Within the context, CNN s Jerusalem correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, reported last week that he and his camera crew were assaulted by Israeli soldiers while covering the establishment of an outpost in the village of Tayasir. This occurred 12 hours after a violent attack by settlers on the village. Diamond stated that a soldier shouted at him and his crew, ‘Stop! Sit down!’ and pointed his weapon at them. He added that seconds later, a soldier stood behind cameraman Cyril Theophilos, choked him, threw him to the ground, and damaged his camera.
The soldiers then detained Diamond and his crew for 2 hours for questioning, along with the Palestinians present at the scene. In his report, Diamond stated that one of the soldiers, named Meir, acknowledged that the outpost he was guarding in Tayasir was illegal even under Israeli law, but said it ‘will become a legal settlement, slowly, slowly.’ When asked if he was contributing to this, Meir replied, ‘Of course, I m helping my people.’
In its warning regarding the settlement activities of the occupation authorities, the Jerusalem Governorate cautioned against settlement plan number 1627/7, known as the ‘Shami Neighborhood’. The Governorate considered the plan an advanced tool for re-engineering the Bedouin presence in the Governorate s desert region, within the framework of ongoing Israeli occupation policies aimed at altering the geographic and demographic reality east of occupied Jerusalem to benefit expansionist projects, most notably the E1 project. The Governorate explained that the occupation authorities deposited the plan on March 25, 2026, through the so-called Subcommittee for Planning and Licensing of the Higher Planning Council in the ‘Civil Administration’.
The plan targets lands in the town of Abu Dis within Basin No. 4, in the areas of: Dhahr Raghabneh, Manazil Ali, Batin Bishara, Um Shakhalib, and Dhahr Qararit, covering an area of 169.9 dunams. The plan aims to -convert- the land from its agricultural and open uses into an urban residential neighborhood classified as ‘Residence B,’ allocating about 79 dunams for residential construction and more than 35 dunams for the road network, imposing a building density of up to 12 housing units per dunam, with heights of up to 6 stories. The plan -dir-ectly targets Bedouin communities, including Khan Ahmar, Abu Nuwar, and Arab Jahalin, in addition to the communities of Wadi Jamal, Jabal Baba, Wadi Sneysel, and Bir Maskub, with the aim of forcibly displacing them to a closed urban area, which will lead to the dismantling of their social structure and the destruction of their pastorals.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Attempting to steal sheep belonging to Khalil Suleiman Ara ra in the town of Eizariya. However, local youths chased the settlers and recovered the sheep before the settlers attacked the community again.
- Bringing animal sacrifices into the Old City of occupied Jerusalem in preparation for the Jewish Passover holiday. The Jerusalem Governorate reported that 10 settlers walked from the Damascus Gate towards the Old City carrying 2 goats, intending to offer them as sacrifices at the closest point to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
- Vandalizing Palestinian property in the village of Mikhmas.
- Forcing Attiya Abu Teir to demolish part of his house in the village of Um Tuba under the pretext of building without a permit.
- Demolishing 4 homes in the town of Silwan. The Jerusalem Governorate stated that Israeli forces, accompanied by heavy machinery, stormed the Al-Bustan Neighborhood in Silwan and demolished homes belonging to the Awad, Abu Shafeh, and Al-Ruwaidi families, in addition to demolishing walls surrounding the home of Jerusalemite Maher Sarhan in the same neighborhood.
- Storming the Bedouin community of Khilat Sidra, near the village of Mikhmas and informed residents that the area was a closed military zone, completely prohibiting their presence. This escalation aims to displace the community s inhabitants.
Hebron:
- Attacking Palestinian citizens, breaking 10 ancient olive trees belonging to Yasser Radi Nawaj ah, released their livestock onto Palestinian land and raided the home of Ali Hurayzat in Khirbet Munayzil, smashing windows and damaging furniture.
- Attacking an 80-year-old woman and two of her sons, who sustained bruises and suffered from tear gas inhalation during a settler attack. The elderly woman, Safiya Idris, and her two sons, Nour and Azmi, suffered bruises, tear gas inhalation, and burns and were later taken to the hospital. The settlers also stole approximately 30 sheep belonging to the family.
- Assaulting the child Suhaib Raed Badawi in Masafer Yatta. Settlers also attacked the family of Moh’d Abdul Rahman Jabarin, who lives in the eastern part of Shaab Batim village in Masafer Yatta, spraying them with pepper spray. This caused several residents to suffer from suffocation, including a foreign activist and a woman.
- Arresting 4 Palestinians after settlers attacked shepherds in the Abu Shaban area of Masafer Yatta. Other settlers attacked the town of Dhahiriya in the Rahwa area, setting fire to several Palestinian vehicles.
- Setting fire to 2 vehicles during an attack on the Shuyukh town and stole 25 sheep belonging to Akrama Ibrahim Kawazba and Suhaib Jawabra. They also spray-painted racist slogans before being confronted by residents.
Bethlehem:
- Killing the young man Moh’d Faraj Malhi after being shot in the head with live ammunition during an attack by settlers in the Harmala Khala’il Luz area, east of Bethlehem.
- Opening fire on a vehicle at the entrance to the housing complex near the Talitha Kumi School in Beit Jala. The vehicle belonged to Youssef Abdel Moussa from the town of al-Khader, south of Beit Jala.
- Launching a new attack targeting Palestinian property in Nahalin. After infiltrating the area, they set fire to several vehicles, completely burning them and damaging nearby properties. The settlers also spray-painted racist and anti-Palestinian slogans in Hebrew on the walls of houses and buildings, threatening displacement and revenge.
Ramallah:
- Releasing their livestock onto a farm belonging to Sadiq Wadi in the town of Al-Lubban Gharbi. Settlers also grazed their sheep on Palestinian-owned land in the village of Yabrud, damaging crops.
- Establishing a new outpost in the Gharaba area north of the town of Sinjil, while others cut down and destroyed dozens of olive trees in the western part of the lands belonging to the town of Deir Ammar.
- Storming the quarry site south of the Taybeh town, vandalized a bulldozer and warehouse doors, and damaging Palestinian property.
Nablus:
- Vandalizing and stole a door, windows, carpets, benches, and chairs from the Beit Sheikh Mosque in Khirbet Tana, which is frequently targeted by settler and Israeli occupation forces. In the town of Huwara,
- Shooting a 49-year-old Palestinian man in the town of Huwara,
- Erecting tents on Palestinian-owned land, just 500 m. from a house, in the town of Qusra, residents confronted settlers who attempted to attack homes in the southern part of the town.
- Bulldozing areas of land and uprooted ancient Roman olive trees in the Wadi Ali and Wadi Yasuf areas in the town of Lubban Sharqiya, located to the north and south of the town. The bulldozing affected about 2,000 dunams of land in the town, close to residents homes.
Jenin:
- Notifying a Palestinian resident of their intention to demolish commercial structures and a house in the town of Arraba, as part of an escalation of settlement plans in the area. Simultaneously, Israeli bulldozers razed and uprooted dozens of olive trees on a 25-dunam plot of land near the site of the Arraba military camp, which was evacuated in 2005, in preparation for expanding the camp and returning to it. Last December, Israeli forces forced families who had lived on the site since 2014 to evacuate and began expansion, paving, and reconstruction work in preparation for returning. Moreover, they notified Jihad Musa, a resident of Arraba, of their intention to demolish 3 shops and his house near the Arraba gas station at the town s entrance, giving him 48 hours before commencing the demolition.
- Establishing an outpost between the towns of Jaba and Sanur, erecting tents and barracks on land between the two towns, in preparation to establish a new settlement outpost, specifically near the main road between the two towns.
Jordan Valley:

- Fixing a mobile home and livestock enclosures on a hill in Wadi Tayasir, near Palestinian homes, and attacked residents, injuring several who were hospitalized. Others erected a new settlement tent in the Einun area, south of Tubas, raising concerns that it could be the nucleus of a new settlement outpost.
- Forcing Palestinian families to leave various areas in the northern Jordan Valley due to settler attacks. Four Palestinians were injured in an attack by settler groups on the outskirts of Tayasir. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews treated 4 injuries at the scene, and the injured were admitted to the hospital

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