One day after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s dramatic declaration that he had “ended” dependence on the Hebron municipality regarding Jewish settlement in the city, the Higher Planning Council in the Civil Administration on Wednesday approved a series of construction plans in the West Bank for the first time without seeking approval from the Palestinian Hebron municipality.
The cabinet decision that Smotrich has presented over the past day as a political and settlement achievement was given its first practical expression on the ground on Wednesday. According to the announcement published that day, a new building of about 1,000 square meters was approved for the Shavei Hebron yeshiva, near Beit Romano.
This is the first approval of its kind since the signing of the Hebron Agreement in 1997, under which restrictions related to the Jewish community were subject to approval by the Hebron municipality.
This is one of the clauses that has remained in force since the Oslo Accords and that right-wing figures have sharply criticized over the years.
In their view, the situation enabled the Hebron municipality to advance projects for the Jewish community in the city, despite its lack of cooperation.
The move comes a day after Smotrich announced at the dedication ceremony for the settlement of Doran that “we canceled the Hebron agreements,” and claimed that this was a “historic correction” and the end of a situation in which “authorities regarding the Jewish community in Hebron and the holy places were dependent on the terror municipality of Hebron.”
The minister linked the decision to the broader policy he is leading in the West Bank, settlement regularization, strengthening governance, and deepening Israeli sovereignty in practice.
Foreign Ministry denies Smotrich’s claims on Hebron Agreement
However, the Foreign Ministry was quick to clarify that the Hebron Agreement itself had not been canceled.
In an official statement, it said that several months ago, the political-security cabinet made a focused decision regarding planning and construction authorities for the Jewish community in Hebron and Jewish heritage sites in the city, following years of a complete lack of cooperation from the Hebron municipality on these issues.
The ministry emphasized that, beyond that, “no changes were made,” thereby distancing itself from any attempt to present the move as the cancellation of the entire Hebron Agreement. The construction approval granted on Wednesday is the first practical test of that cabinet decision.
In December, the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration withdrew planning powers for the Cave of the Patriarchs from the Hebron Municipality after the municipality and the Islamic Waqf rejected a project to construct a roof over a section of the cave.
Settlement officials view the announcement as proof that the change is not remaining at the level of declarations. For Smotrich, it is another layer in the policy he calls “practical sovereignty,” the transfer of decision-making powers in certain areas from Palestinian hands to Israeli state institutions.
Planning Council approves 576 new housing units in settlements
Alongside the approval in Hebron, the Higher Planning Council approved 576 new housing units in the settlements.
In Mitzpe Jericho in Binyamin, a plan for 456 new housing units was approved for deposit, a move that settlement officials estimate will allow the community to expand and absorb several thousand more residents. In the El Matan neighborhood in Karnei Shomron, 120 housing units were approved for validity after lengthy procedures, the removal of objections, and long-running disputes.
In Smotrich’s circle, the construction approvals are presented as part of an overall policy that the minister has led in recent years to strengthen Israel’s presence in the West Bank and deepen what he defines as “practical sovereignty.”
From his perspective, the decision regarding Hebron goes beyond the planning process itself; it fits into a broader view of creating facts on the ground and expanding settlement.
“We continue to build the Land of Israel in practice and implement practical sovereignty in the settlements,” Smotrich said on Wednesday.
“Bringing thousands of new residents to Mitzpe Jericho and erecting a new building for the Shavei Hebron yeshiva in the City of the Patriarchs are both moving and important. This is a national move that anchors our hold on the land, strengthens Israel’s security, and establishes clear facts that prevent the establishment of an Arab terror state in the heart of the country. Thank you to the Civil Administration and the Settlement Administration for leading the processes.”
As the dispute over the meaning of Smotrich’s declaration about the “cancellation of the Hebron agreements” continues, the construction approval granted on Wednesday gives the minister the first practical achievement he wanted to highlight: the removal of the approval mechanism that had existed for nearly three decades and the transfer of decision-making authority to the State of Israel alone.
Smotrich calls this a “historic correction,” while in the political establishment, it is still presented as a targeted, limited change, not a cancellation of the Hebron Agreement as a whole.
