Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom and leading Zionist Rabbis Zalman Melamed and Chaim Druckman called on Monday for Jews to settle the Negev and Galilee. Shalom, who is Minister for the Development of the northern and southern regions, presented his plan to settle 300,000 Israelis in the Negev, and a similar amount in the Galilee, in the coming years.
Shalom told a news conference in Jerusalem, “The settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria was a successful one and we should learn from it to do the same in the Negev and Galilee. Here with me today are two leaders of the religious-Zionist public, and I hope and believe that their followers will act in accordance with their call to settle in these areas.” Shalom and the rabbis made it clear that the call to settle the Negev and Galilee "is not at the expense of Judea and Samaria, but as a supplement."