Uri Ariel
Uri ArielFlash 90

The Cabinet will meet Sunday to discuss the possible resumption of activity of the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). The Settlement Division for decades operated in both the Israeli periphery and in Judea and Samaria, providing for the physical construction of communities and social support.

Two years ago, following the opinion of leftist Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber that the government should not fund the division, its activity was suspended.

According to the resolution the cabinet will discuss on Sunday, the government will regulate the Settlement Division and allow it to operate in full in the periphery and Judea and Samaria again.

"The Government's decision means the proposed abolition of the territorial limitation on the Division only in regional councils and the general expansion of rural space.," reads the draft of the resolution.

The Settlement Division of the WZO was established in 1971 to facilitate the development of settlements in the territories Israel won in the 1967 Six-Day War. Its accomplishments and experience led the government to expand its scope to projects in the periphery in the early 2000s. A leftist backlash that attempted unsuccessfully to show that it was receiving too much funding led to Zilber's recommendation to close the division.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel praised the proposed resolution to resume the activities of the Settlement Division, saying that development projects and communities in the periphery and Judea and Samaria would benefit.

""I hope and believe that after the Settlement Division returns to full activity the councils and residents will be able to get answers to the enormous needs that exist.

"This is why the division was created in the first place." he added