This came according to what was published by the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot on Monday, which said that these funds, which are allocated to building new settlements and roads, in addition to land registration purposes and security, are "unprecedented".
She noted that the transfer of three Israeli occupation army bases to the northern West Bank represents a key step within these allocations.
She added in this regard: "Billions of shekels from the state budget are intended to reshape the settlements, as these funds are allocated to relocate bases for the Israeli army, build infrastructure for dozens of new communities, open access roads, and strengthen defense systems."
The newspaper pointed out that the largest element of this plan is worth approximately 2.7 billion shekels ($843 million) distributed over the next five years, which is allocated to "all elements that strengthen Israeli rule there (in the West Bank), which is in fact a form of de facto annexation."
Earlier on Monday, Smotrich said in a post on the X platform that "Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is Israel's security belt," and added, in reference to the rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state: "I am proud to lead a revolution that eliminates the idea of dividing the country and establishing a terrorist state, and strengthens Israel's security," according to his expressions.
"A blatant violation of international law"
Jordan, for its part, on Monday considered the statements of the “extremist” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, which coincided with Israel’s announcement of a plan to expand settlements in the West Bank, a “blatant violation of international law.”
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Smotrich's remarks and the announcement of a plan to expand settlements in the West Bank constitute "a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law."
She explained that this would "undermine the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to end the occupation, and to establish their independent and sovereign state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital."
The ministry stressed that "Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied West Bank." It affirmed its country's absolute rejection of Israel's ongoing settlement expansion efforts in the West Bank and the statements of its officials, which it considers "a perpetuation of the occupation."
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to "assume its legal and moral responsibilities, and compel Israel to stop its dangerous escalation, its illegal and unilateral actions in the West Bank, and its clear oppression of the Palestinians."
It called for "the necessity of fulfilling the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their national soil, as the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees security and stability in the region."
On Wednesday, Yediot Aharonot newspaper revealed an official document indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports a plan to expand and formalize agricultural settlement outposts in the West Bank, despite them being illegal even according to Israeli standards.
The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported on August 20 that the Israeli government had given final approval to the "E1" settlement plan, which includes the construction of about 3,400 new settlement housing units near the Ma'ale Adumim settlement.
The United Nations affirms that settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal and undermines the possibility of implementing a two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli), and has been calling for its cessation for decades, to no avail.
The Israeli human rights organization Peace Now has previously described this plan as a "fatal blow" to the two-state solution, as it will separate the northern West Bank from the south and isolate the city of Jerusalem.
The Palestinians insist on Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, based on international legitimacy resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967, nor its annexation in 1980.
