Finance Minister and Defense Minister Bezalel Smotrich addressed Monday’s demolition of structures in the Givat Tzur Misgabi outpost, near the community of Metzad in Gush Etzion, stressing that the move was initiated by the Gush Etzion Regional Council and coordinated with the Civil Administration.
Smotrich said the demolished buildings were “uninhabited structures in the Metzad area, on land that serves as the last land reserve for Metzad and Pnei Kedem.”
He noted that the council, together with the Civil Administration, is advancing plans for thousands of housing units there. “Some individuals moved into the area on their own, contrary to these plans, blocking the ability to develop thousands of homes,” he stated.
Recent talks have been held between those residents and the council, he said. “We hope negotiations will end in agreements, but meanwhile the council requested a halt to new construction.”
Smotrich emphasized ongoing expansion efforts: “We are developing the communities in the area, building everywhere, planning on a large scale, and declaring state lands. New farms are rising daily, protecting hundreds of thousands of dunams.”
He also addressed the hilltop youth who confronted him earlier: “We don’t need anyone to teach us how to do Zionism or build communities.”
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosenthal expressed support for the demolition. “I support Minister Smotrich, who has taken a painful, but necessary, step. We cannot develop Gush Etzion when a handful of people are seizing hundreds of dunams and erecting makeshift structures on land designated for thousands of homes for the next generation.”
He warned that unauthorized construction in an area facing no threat harms nearby communities, blocks the planned access road, and creates “complete anarchy,” including the sale of private land by those who do not own it. “This is not how you build a community, and certainly not how you bring a million Jews to Judea and Samaria.”
Rosenthal concluded: “Our communities grow because we work through coordination and planning. This is a difficult day, but if we do not stop the rampant construction now, the price tomorrow will be far heavier.”