Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a new plan this week aimed at relocating what he termed the "settlement revolution" from the occupied West Bank to the Negev and Galilee regions, despite anticipating opposition from Arab citizens in Israel.
The far-right minister and leader of the Religious Zionism Party took to 'X' to express his views, stating: "The plan I presented this week to transfer the settlement revolution from the West Bank to the Negev and Galilee will make the Arab sector realize that the disorder of past decades will end."
He added that opponents of the plan "will do everything they can to stop it and prevent the right from coming to power," but affirmed: "We will not back down: dozens of farms, a million people, and significant legislative changes will bring the correction that the State of Israel has awaited for decades."
He concluded his post with the phrase: "Yes, we are Judaizing."
Earlier, Smotrich announced a comprehensive plan to reinforce Jewish presence in the Galilee and Negev under the slogan "Yes. We Judaize!", aiming to replicate the settlement model applied in the occupied West Bank to these regions.
The plan targets adding one million Jews to the Galilee and Negev, establishing 40 new Jewish towns, and several so-called "individual farms," as well as expanding existing Jewish towns and constructing hundreds of thousands of housing units.
It also involves broad changes in planning and land allocation policies, with Smotrich declaring that his party will demand control over the planning administration and the Israel Land Authority in the next government, key institutions responsible for land and construction policies.
Smotrich stated during the plan's presentation that he will work to "remove anti-Zionist elements" from planning and land agencies, replacing them with officials who align with a "Zionist and nationalist vision."
Additionally, the plan involves revisiting development and expansion plans for Arab towns in the Galilee and Negev, reclaiming lands Smotrich alleges were given to those towns, to establish Jewish towns instead.
He remarked: "Instead of them encircling Jewish towns, we will encircle Arab towns and halt Arab demographic expansion," adding that his party will seek to cancel plans that he claimed "create continuity of Arab settlement in the Galilee and strangle Jewish towns."
He added: "We will reverse the equation."
The plan emerges as Smotrich and his party aim to bring settlement and planning issues to the forefront of their political campaign amidst polls indicating electoral pressure on the Religious Zionism Party.
In contrast, Smotrich's statements have drawn criticism from Arab circles within Israel, with warnings about the plan's impact on urban development opportunities in Arab towns.