A massive victory for the right, Jewish heartland residents, and Israeli governance today. For the first time in the country’s history, Israel has signed an umbrella agreement with a regional council. At a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Housing Minister Haim Katz, Israel Land Authority Director Yehuda Eliahu, and Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan, the government committed an unprecedented sum for massive infrastructure development, upgrading existing communities, and building 12,000 new housing units. Dagan blessed the occasion with a prayer and declared: “We’re rebuilding 18 communities in northern Samaria—the goal is one million residents.”
A historic and unprecedented national move is transforming the face of Jewish life in Judea and Samaria starting this morning: The Samaria Regional Council is becoming the first regional council in Israel to sign an umbrella agreement with the state. At the impressive ceremony, the landmark agreement was signed that will propel the entire region forward.
This is the largest umbrella agreement ever signed with a non-municipal authority, and it includes a staggering budget of over 8.5 billion shekels (~$2.8 billion). The massive funding will go directly to the field: approximately 1.5 billion shekels will be invested in strategic mega-infrastructure, and approximately 7 billion shekels more will be allocated for adjacent infrastructure, establishing modern public institutions, and “old versus new” projects that will strengthen and upgrade the existing community fabric.
As part of this, approximately 12,000 new housing units will be built alongside thousands of square meters of employment, commercial, and industrial space, and roads, junctions, and advanced drainage solutions will be upgraded in the heart of the country.
According to the agreement, the budgets will also be used to build the new communities that Yossi Dagan is advancing in Samaria, as a fitting Zionist response to anyone trying to challenge our rights in the land of our fathers.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich emphasized the importance of the move in the face of political threats: “The historic signing of the umbrella agreement for Samaria is another significant step in the revolution we are leading in Judea and Samaria, alongside the regularization and establishment of over 100 new communities, 160 farms, and paving roads. The Eisenkot government wants to evacuate the communities and establish a Palestinian state—we won’t let that happen.”
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan was emotional during the ceremony, blessed “Shehecheyanu v’kiyemanu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh” [who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time], and laid out the national work plan for the coming years: “We are rebuilding 18 communities in northern Samaria in place of the 4 that were uprooted. This agreement is a tremendous leap forward for the veteran communities in Samaria, when everything converges toward our overarching goal: one million residents in Samaria. We commit to using these tremendous tools and bringing one million residents to Judea and Samaria. This is the future of the State of Israel, in values and security.”
This historic signing is a resounding slap in the face to all the leftist organizations and international actors trying to stop the Zionist enterprise. The people of Israel are deepening their roots in Samaria this morning, with the clear knowledge that building the land is the only guarantee for the state’s security and the victory of the national spirit.