Hillel Fendel is researcher and editor, and Chaim Silberstein is founder and chairman of JCAP - The Katz Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy is the Zionist, Jerusalem-focused research and policy center dedicated to shaping the future of Jerusalem as Israel's indivisible capital. www.jcap.ngo.
Sometimes, the best news about Israel is written by the enemy. Reading our adversaries' mournful and pessimistic reports - such as the latest one from the semi-official Hamas media outlet al-Risalah - provides welcome encouragement that we are in fact on the right path.
In a detailed, end-of-2025 report this week, the Hamas mouthpiece bemoans what it calls Israel's "grand plan [to] isolate and strangle Jerusalem [and] undermine any possibility of a geographically contiguous and viable Palestinian state."
The article begins in a foreboding tone: "The 'West Bank' is experiencing one of the most dangerous phases in its modern history." It notes "an unprecedented acceleration in the pace of Israeli settlement and increased control over Palestinian lands [sic]," and says it is part of "a broader project aimed at undermining any possibility of a geographically contiguous and viable Palestinian state."
These welcome developments are largely due to the brisk work of Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, with the help of his Cabinet colleagues Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and National Missions Minister Orit Strook, in hastening government approvals of new communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). Just this past week, 19 new ones were approved or certified, bringing the total over the past three years to a whopping 69! This is the largest growth spurt in Yesha towns since at least 2017, according to a United Nations report.
Smotrich's office said the 19 new communities are situated in "highly strategic" areas. Two of them, Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria, were razed by Israel itself in the Disengagement of 2005, and will now be rebuilt. Five others that already exist have now been granted official recognition.
While the Hamas announcement bewails what it calls "the fragmentation of the 'West Bank' into isolated, disconnected enclaves surrounded by settlements, bypass roads, and military bases," Smotrich's Religious Zionism party celebrates the "historic revolution… that is redrawing the map of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley."
The party declared: "For the first time, Yesha is no longer isolated points or temporary statements, but rather a contiguous, planned-out settlement map that strengthens our hold in the heart of our homeland." It also provides enhanced security for the Yesha residents, as is documented elsewhere.
Most fascinatingly, the Hamas statement appears to have been lifted, at least partially, from the Religious Zionism party's declaration. Compare the above to the al-Risalah text: "Settlement activity is no longer just random expansion or exploitation of fleeting political moments, but has turned into an integrated strategic plan in which security, political and demographic dimensions are intertwined and supported by a legislative, financial and military system led by the extreme Israeli right wing."
(The Hamas report - first cited by Baruch Yedid of JCAP - was issued this week, while the Religious-Zionism statement was on the party website even before the announcement of the 19 newest communities.)
Hamas indicates that the heart and central target of the Israeli project is actually Jerusalem, "as the occupation authorities seek to completely isolate it from its Palestinian surroundings in the 'West Bank' and transform it into a huge settlement center."
For instance, a new town named Mishmar Yehuda - east of Jerusalem and just south of Maaleh Adumim - reached an important planning stage this week, with the approval of 3,600 housing units. Hamas is correct in viewing it as part of the "Greater Jerusalem" plan, "in a move that portends serious repercussions for the future of the entire Palestinian cause." This was affirmed by Minister Smotrich's remarks: "Mishmar Yehuda will be a well-planned, large and beautiful city, which will serve as a strategic anchor for the protection of Jerusalem from the east."
Smotrich, who also serves as a Minister in the Defense Ministry, added that this is "another step towards advancing Israeli sovereignty in the area and preventing thoughts of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria."
Hamas also noted with dismay the recent specific recognition of Shdemah, in northern Gush Etzion, and Nachal Heletz, between Gilo and Gush Etzion, with "direct support from the occupation army and the Israeli government." Hamas adds that this support "reflects an official trend to end any talk of a two-state solution or an independent Palestinian state... [It] contributes to tightening the noose around [Jerusalem] and separating it from its natural extension in the 'West Bank'."
Gush Etzion Council head Yaron Rosental said at the time, "This week, 77 years ago, 35 Jewish fighters were massacred very close to here on their way to offer assistance to the besieged Jews in isolated Gush Etzion. We now close this circle by connecting the Gush to Jerusalem, thus repaying an ethical debt to the founders and defenders of Gush Etzion."
Other features of the alarmist report by Hamas include:
** "Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich… made legal amendments to facilitate land seizures and legalize settlement outposts."
** "Forty settlements were established in the southern 'West Bank', along with 107 new settlement outposts, as part of a plan to link 'Gush Etzion' with occupied Jerusalem… In the central 'West Bank', 77 settlements were established and thousands of settlement housing units were added… This reality creates a network of roads and settlements that cut off Palestinian cities and villages, turning them into isolated areas subject to military checkpoints and preventing geographical, economic and social communication between them."
** "Experts and observers warn that the ultimate goal of these policies is to completely isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings… The isolation of Jerusalem is a devastating blow to the Palestinian national project…"
It is important to note that JCAP's Jerusalem Shield project foresees and plans for a greater Jerusalem umbrella municipality that will bring a quarter of a million more Jews, administratively, into the city borders - more than 60% of them from the areas of Judea and Samaria around Jerusalem. The objective is to create a huge metropolitan area, with Israel's eternal capital in the center and a solid Jewish majority of 80% and more.
The nipping in the bud of a Palestinian Arab state, and the great growth in Jewish settlement in our homeland, are precisely the Hamas "nightmare" about which the terror organization is now in a panic.
All efforts must be made to perpetuate Jewish growth in Yesha in order to ensure that the Hamas fears actually come true.
What you can do:
Apply pressure on Israeli influencers and policy makers via email and Whatsapp to ensure that
a) the government continues to encourage Jewish population growth in Yesha,
b) our policy is always centrally based around the need to protect Jerusalem and ensure its growth in all directions, and
c) the IDF continues to protect and support the new young farm pioneers, for the sake of our demographic, geographic, and security needs.