Smotrich Unveils 40-Community Plan to Add One Million Jews to Negev and Galilee

Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a party platform to establish 20 new communities in the Negev and 20 in the Galilee. The plan targets one million additional Jewish residents through housing, land, transport, health, education and business incentives aimed at young families, immigrants, service families and professionals. It also proposes dozens of farms, faster planning approvals and expanded existing communities. Its security section calls for emergency legislation, treating illegal weapons possession as terrorism, stronger action against organized crime and state protection for people who resist extortion.