The Supreme Planning Council of the Israeli Defense Ministry's Civil Administration will advance plans for hundreds of new homes in Eli, according to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria at the Defense Ministry.
The proposal includes 763 housing units in Eli, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria, which would roughly triple the size of the community. Smotrich said the homes are being advanced in neighborhoods established "in memory of a number of soldiers from the community who fell in Israel's wars, including Roi Klein, Eliraz Peretz and Amishar Ben David, my dear cousin."
Planning authorities will also advance a separate plan for 90 housing units in Har Adar near Jerusalem. Smotrich called this "a significant step for a community that has been waiting years for the promotion of new construction."
"While an Eisenkot-Yair Golan government would destroy and dismantle, we will continue building more and more," Smotrich said, referring to opposition figures Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan ahead of the October 27 election.
Netanyahu's government has pursued an extensive expansion of Israeli control in Judea and Samaria over the past three-and-a-half years, approving tens of thousands of homes and dozens of new communities. In June, the Cabinet approved a 1.3 billion shekel plan to establish and develop dozens of Jewish communities in the region, which includes financing for prefabricated buildings, with up to 15 homes and two public buildings planned at each location. This followed a March Cabinet decision approving dozens of new communities across Samaria, the Binyamin region, the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion and the Dead Sea area.