A Hebrew newspaper said on Sunday that the Israeli interior ministry had recognized about 29 settler outposts in different areas of the West Bank.
Makor Rishon newspaper explained that interior minister Ayelet Shaked recognized these outposts one year after she took office as part of her attempts to woo the settlers in the West Bank.
The newspaper revealed the interior ministry transfers every year 3.3 billion shekels (about $970 million) as grants to about 200 settlements and outposts.
It said that the interior ministry’s recognition of these outposts and its financial support for them would pave the way for them to receive budgets from other ministries.
In a recent report Peace Now said that Israel’s settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories (West Bank) increased by 62 percent after the coalition government of Naftali Bennett was formed.
“We can see a 62 percent jump in construction starts in settlements with the entry of the new government despite its promise that it would keep a status quo in everything regarding the occupation. The government policy mainly shows that it did nothing to stop construction” Peace Now explained.
