(May 25, 2025 / JNS) Israel is allocating 30 million shekels ($8.3 million) to build more than a dozen cities and industrial zones throughout Samaria, Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf announced on Thursday.

The “Samaria to a Million” proposal was launched by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan in 2023, and will now enter its first phase with financial support from the state, according to Goldknopf.

“In the face of those seeking our destruction, the clear and unequivocal answer is to strengthen the settlement and solidify our hold on the Land of Israel in general—and in Judea and Samaria in particular,” the ultra-Orthodox minister said in remarks cited by the Israel Hayom daily.

“Planning and expanding the communities serves as a security and economic anchor for the region and sends a firm and unmistakable message: We are here to stay—and to grow,” he said.

Goldknopf announced his support for the plan alongside Dagan during a visit to the latter’s temporary office at the site of of the May 14 terrorist attack in which pregnant Israeli Tzeela Gez was murdered.

“Terrorism tries to drive us out, but we will respond with growth. We will establish cities, build industrial zones and make Samaria flourish,” declared the Samaria leader. “I commend Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf for the principled and courageous decision to invest 30 million shekels in planning 18 settlement points—13 cities and 5 industrial zones—as part of the ‘Samaria to a Million’ plan.”

The initiative is being advanced in cooperation with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with responsibility for civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, and Religious Zionism Party Knesset lawmaker Zvi Sukkot, who is the chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria.

In 2023, Dagan unveiled his plan to increase the number of Jews living in Samaria from some 140,000 to more than one million by 2050, saying the move would “strengthen Zionism” and solve the housing crisis.

The initiative encompasses building major cities and expanding existing Jewish communities, while better connecting the region to central and northern Israel via trains and highways. The plan also proposes the construction of a hospital, as well as five industrial zones.

According to the plan, which now has an approved budget for its planning phase, the establishment of 13 cities will include the addition of 180,000 housing units in the Samaria Regional Council’s area of jurisdiction.

Tens and thousands of units are expected to be built in Samaria’s north, including by rebuilding Sa-Nur, Ganim, Kadim and Homesh, towns that were evacuated during Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the area and Gaza.

Additionally, an outpost will be established on Mount Ebal, the site of Joshua’s Altar, the Samaria Regional Council announced, noting its historical, biblical and national significance for the Jewish people.

On May 19, Channel 14 News reported that Smotrich was set to legalize 22 Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria, nine of which would be new towns. Smotrich’s proposal reportedly included the legalization of Homesh and Sa-Nur, as well as Mount Ebal.

As of Jan. 1, 529,704 Jews live in Judea and Samaria, amounting to approximately 5.28% of Israel’s population.

Nearly 70% of Israeli citizens want Israel to extend full legal sovereignty over the disputed territory, according to a survey conducted on Jan. 29.

Meanwhile, 58% of Israeli Jews believe that communities in Judea and Samaria contribute to the security of the country, according to a poll the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) published on March 11.

PHOTO: Israeli children watch construction work in Kedumim, Samaria. Flash90.   Use according to Section 27 A