Israel lists 70 communities in Judea and Samaria as "national priorities" for extra assistance

Around 70 settlements in Judea and Samaria ("The West Bank") are on a list of communities eligible for housing and development grants that the Israeli cabinet approved on Sunday. 57 of them are located outside the boundary of the security barrier’s planned route.

Israel has assured the international community that it would not provide special incentives for settlement development and construction. Nevertheless, the settlements were included in the list of 557 “national priority” communities published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday.

An official in the cabinet meeting clarified that additional government approval was needed before the incentives could be granted to West Bank settlements. “It won’t happen automatically,” the official said.

Read more in the Jerusalem Post