Israel election pressure fuels settlement push as West Bank violence surges
Israel's settlement movement has intensified activity in the occupied West Bank ahead of October elections, with the UN reporting attacks by settlers and illegal settlement creation at all-time highs. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party has overseen approval of over 100 illegal settlements and 160 settlement farms since 2022, though opinion polls suggest the party may struggle to meet the electoral threshold.
Settlement activity in Israel's occupied West Bank has accelerated significantly as the country prepares for elections scheduled in October. The United Nations has documented a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers, often conducted alongside Israeli military forces, alongside the establishment of illegal settlements and outposts. This uptick reflects efforts by Israel's hard-right political faction to consolidate control over the territory before voters head to the polls.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has emerged as a central figure driving the settlement agenda. His Religious Zionist Party has made expanding Israeli control over the West Bank a cornerstone of its political platform. Since the current governing coalition took power in 2022, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that authorities had approved establishment of 104 illegal settlements and approximately 160 settlement farms across the West Bank. Additionally, Smotrich announced an E1 settlement project linking occupied East Jerusalem with the existing Maale Adumim settlement, which he characterized as foreclosing the possibility of Palestinian statehood.
To entrench settler influence within state institutions, Smotrich established a Settlements Administration agency within the Ministry of Defence in 2023, which he subsequently embedded legally within the ministry structure last month. This institutional embedding makes reversing decisions taken under the agency's authority considerably more difficult. The moves reflect a broader shift during the current parliamentary term toward transferring West Bank administration from military to civilian control and accelerating settlement infrastructure expansion.
However, Smotrich's political position faces uncertainty. Opinion polls suggest his Religious Zionist Party may fall short of the electoral threshold required for Knesset representation following the October elections. Israeli political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may pursue strategic measures to maintain far-right representation on the governing coalition ticket, though Smotrich's support base, while strong among settlers and ideological conservatives, may prove insufficient for broader electoral success.
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