On July 30, Israel’s security Cabinet approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build 715 housing units in Palestinian villages in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli control. Cabinet members were asked to approve the plan by phone — a procedural move generally reserved for urgent or unusual decisions. What made the ministers rush to vote on construction for Palestinians? The answer was apparently supplied the following day when President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner dropped in for a few hours to discuss his father-in-law’s peace plan for the Middle East with Netanyahu. The timing of the brief visit, at the height of Israel’s election campaign, was especially strange given its focus on a peace plan that no one wants. According to a July 31 report in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Trump plans to hold a peace summit at Camp David with Arab leaders even before Israel’s Sept. 17 elections, in a bid to help Netanyahu’s re-election.

Either way, resolving the mystery is a no-brainer. Uber-hawk Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich (of the United Right) voted in favor of the Palestinian permits but his unexpected support should come as no surprise. As he explained in detail, Israel plans to turn US pressure into a construction boom for the settlers. "Now, finally, thank God, comes the twist in the Israeli government's approach to the spread of the terrorist cancer within us.… Israel is forming a strategic plan to stop the creation of a Palestinian state inside the country," he wrote on Facebook. “For the first time, the State of Israel will implement its sovereignty and responsibility for the entire area.… No more approval of building plans proposed by the Palestinian Authority that serve its interest. For the first time, Israel will create a toolbox for enforcement and forceful neutralization of the Palestinian takeover plan."

It is unclear what Palestinian plan the minister had in mind given that only settlers are allowed to build in the West Bank and only the Israeli government encourages construction there and retroactively legalizes illegal outposts. According to a July 22 Peace Now report, 32 new outposts have been established since 2012, the majority after Trump was elected, and 15 existing outposts were legalized. A process of retroactive legalization has begun for 35 more. According to a 2018 report by the organization, which monitors settlement construction, in 2017 there was a 17% increase in building starts in the settlements compared with the average of the previous eight years.

Following this week’s Cabinet decision, Peace Now issued data it received from Israel’s military authorities showing that between 2009 and 2016, Israel approved 66 building permits for Palestinians — whereas construction began on 12,763 housing units for Israelis in the settlements.