Israel quietly sends millions to West Bank settler outposts

An Israeli army vehicle drives along a destroyed road. Pic/AFP

The Israeli government has budgeted millions of dollars to protect small, unauthorized Jewish farms in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, underwriting tiny outposts meant to grow into full-fledged settlements, according to an anti-settlement monitoring group.

Documents uncovered by Peace Now illustrate how Israel's pro-settler government has quietly poured money into the unauthorized outposts, which are separate from its more than 100 officially recognized settlements. Some of those outposts have been linked to settler violence against Palestinians and are sanctioned by the US.

Palestinians and the international community say all settlements are illegal or illegitimate and undermine hopes for a two-state solution. The Ministry of Settlements and National Mission, which is headed by a far-right settler leader, confirmed it budgeted 75 million Shekels (USD 20.5 million) last year for security equipment for "young settlements" the term it uses for unauthorized Jewish farms and outposts in the West Bank. The money was quietly authorized in December while the country's attention was focused on the war against Hamas in Gaza.

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