In February 2023, the government renamed the Ministry of Settlement the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions and gave it various additional areas of responsibility, bodies and departments involved in advancing settlements in the West Bank. With this, the machinery advancing West Bank annexation gained a government ministry with extensive budgets and executive powers, headed by Orit Strock, a minister closely identified with the Israeli settlement movement. Soon after taking office, Strock described the ministry as “the essence of her movement’s vision and goals.”

The ministry oversees mission-driven “garin” groups (organized community engagement groups), national service (an alternative to military service); pre-military academies (study programs before enlistment) and departments and programs relating to Jewish culture and identity. The ministry’s budget also increased. Between 2023 and 2025, hundreds of millions of ILS were added through coalition funds and budgetary transfers. Coalition funds (discretionary allocations negotiated in coalition agreements and often used to advance political agendas) reportedly averaged approximately ILS 350 million annually (~ USD 113.8 million).

In August 2023, the Israeli press reported that the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions was advancing a plan worth at least ILS 672 million (~ USD 218.2 million) to strengthen what was defined as civilian resilience in settlements. While the plan was said to address security concerns, much of it was aimed at expanding settlements and outposts and increasing the number of Israeli citizens living in the West Bank. The plan proposed evacuating five military bases to make way for the construction of neighborhoods and commercial zones; developing infrastructure and public buildings in settlements and outposts; expanding educational institutions that serve as hubs for outpost and settlement development; supporting shepherds and farm outposts; and encouraging Jewish immigrants to live in settlements by holding overseas fairs and providing financial assistance.

The government did not formally adopt the plan, partly due to opposition from the Shin Bet and international pressure. Nevertheless, some of the funds and measures it called for were advanced separately through the state budget, coalition funds and budgetary transfers. By dividing the plan’s measures among separate budgetary channels, the government could advance settlement and outpost expansion, strengthen infrastructure and encourage Israeli migration to the West Bank without passing a resolution to approve the plan or holding a public discussion on the matter. To remove obstacles that could hinder implementation, Minister Strock was appointed to the Israel Land Authority Council, and a representative of her office was appointed to the Settlement Subcommittee of the Supreme Planning Council in the Civil Administration.

The Planning and Oversight Department, a division of the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions, coordinates and oversees the government’s engagement with the Settlement Division. Although funded by the Israeli government, the Settlement Division belongs to the World Zionist Organization and is therefore not subject to the oversight mechanisms that apply to government ministries. Through the Planning and Oversight Department, the Ministry of Settlement directly influences the agency the government uses to implement and fund projects in settlements and outposts. In March 2024, the government deepened its control over this mechanism through a government resolution that increased the Settlement Division’s budget and removed several oversight mechanisms. This decision gave the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions greater freedom to operate in the West Bank through the Settlement Division.

In June 2024, Orit Strock led a special conference for farm owners in the West Bank initiated by the Settlement Division and the Amana movement, during which, the Division and the ministry announced a program to supply “security components,” including vehicles, drones and more, to farm outposts at the cost of ILS 75 million (~ USD 24.46 million). During the conference, Amana Secretary-General Ze’ev Hever called for establishing dozens more farm outposts and pledged to help them grow and become more established. Minister Strock added: “I have the great privilege, as Minister of Settlement, to strengthen you and the settlement enterprise that you lead. We are here for you and will continue to be.” Farm outposts enable a small number of settlers to take over vast areas, block Palestinian communities’ access to land and water sources and, together with severe violence, have become drivers of the forcible displacement of dozens of Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank.

The Ministry of Settlement and National Missions also backs a system used by settlement regional councils to expand their control beyond built-up areas, and even beyond their jurisdictional boundaries. Under the title Land Patrol Departments, Israel, through the ministry’s budget, funds patrol officers, vehicles, drones, body cameras and surveillance systems, which are used to identify Palestinian construction and land use and provide information to Israeli enforcement authorities. The budget supporting the Land Patrol Departments increased from ILS 20 million (~ USD 6.5 million) in 2021 to approximately ILS 33 million (~ USD 10.76 million) in 2025. In this way, settlement councils act as a civilian arm of the Israeli control apparatus to deepen their hold over land, enforce restrictions against Palestinian land use and preserve land for future settlement expansion.

Alongside the transfer of budgets and powers, representatives identified with the settlement movement have been installed in other decision-making and oversight junctures. In May 2023, a representative of Strock’s ministry joined the Settlement Subcommittee of the Supreme Planning Council, the body that approves construction plans in settlements. The appointment has given the ministry a direct foothold in the central planning mechanism for settlements. To complete the picture, it should be noted that MK Tzvi Sukkot, another figure in the settlement movement, chaired the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s West Bank Subcommittee, which is responsible for parliamentary monitoring and oversight of civilian affairs in the West Bank.

Minister Strock openly revealed the political objective of the apparatus she established through her office. In November 2024, Minister Strock explained that her ministry was working to ensure that, when sovereignty is applied, in other words, annexation, it would apply to “the maximum possible area,” and that the size of the territory to which sovereignty would be applied would largely be determined by “settlements.” According to Strock, this is the reason the ministry supports outposts and farm outposts, to which she refers as “young settlement.” Strock’s remarks lay bare that supporting outpost expansion is part of a deliberate policy aimed at taking over territory, creating contiguous Israeli control and setting the stage, on the ground, for Israel’s annexation of the territory.