https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/israel-new-settlements-occupied-west-bank-palestinian-state
For my friends who identify as progressive Zionists (i.e. who support a 2 state solution in I/P), it is imperative that you speak out NOW against this Israeli effort to vastly expand illegal settlement activity in thr #WestBank, which is specifically designed to undermine any hope of actual Palestinian statehood.
Excerpt: The motion was said to have been put forward by the far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, and the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, which is considered illegal under international law.
Katz said the settlement decision “strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria”, using the biblical term for the West Bank, “anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism”.
He added it was also “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”.
A spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said: “Israel continues to promote Jewish supremacy through the theft of Palestinian land and the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. The Israeli government is openly and blatantly working to destroy the Palestinian people, and any chances for a normal future for the people living between the Jordan River and the sea.”
The spokesperson added: “The international community is enabling Israel’s crimes by standing aside while millions of Palestinians are subjected to this racist and brutal regime of the Israeli government.”