Smotrich promotes dramatic expansion of Eli: settlement expected to triple in size

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is advancing a significant expansion of the settlement of Eli in Binyamin. The Supreme Planning Council is expected to promote 763 new housing units, of which 673 in Eli and 90 in Har Adar. With the completion of all plans approved in the last three years, the settlement of Eli is expected to triple in size and absorb thousands of new residents.

Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich is advancing a significant expansion of the settlement of Eli in Binyamin. The Supreme Planning Council is expected to promote at its upcoming meeting 763 new housing units, of which 673 in Eli and 90 in Har Adar. The construction will mainly concentrate in two central neighborhoods in Eli: the Eliraz neighborhood, in memory of Eliraz Peretz, will expand by 267 additional housing units (917 total); and the HaYovel neighborhood (Moradot HaYovel) will expand by 406 units (820 total). With the completion of all construction plans approved in the last three years, the settlement of Eli is expected to triple in size and become one of the largest settlements in the Binyamin area. Smotrich said the expansion is "a tremendous national, settlement, and security message," and emphasized that it commemorates the war fallen. Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz called the move "a Zionist, national, and security response to terror." The article presents the expansion as a determined government step, using value-laden national language and the context of the fight against terror.