Israel’s defense minister moved quickly on Tuesday to clarify remarks he made earlier in the day regarding the northern Gaza Strip, stressing that the government is not planning to establish settlements there.
According to a statement from Yisroel Katz’s office, his earlier comments about creating military youth communities were intended “solely in a security context,” adding unequivocally that “the government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.”
The statement further emphasized the government’s security doctrine, noting: “The Defense Minister emphasized the central principle of border protection in every arena: The IDF is the first and last line of defense for Israeli citizens, and the State of Israel relies for its defense only on it and the security forces.”
The clarification followed remarks Katz delivered earlier at an event in Beit El, where he spoke about plans for the security establishment to create military youth communities in northern Gaza and to restore IDF bases in northern Samaria that had been relocated in past years.
At that ceremony, Katz underscored the ideological and security importance of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, declaring: “The State of Israel expresses, once again, in the clearest possible way, its commitment and trust in settlement in Judea and Samaria, which guards the heart of our land, connects us to our heritage, roots, and ideology. The past few years have proven that where there is settlement, there is security. Just as the settlement protects a large portion of Israel’s citizens, so our role is to ensure that we protect the protector.”
He continued by linking settlement policy to broader security operations, saying that “Settlement is a central part of a broader operation to remove threats throughout Judea and Samaria proactively.”
Katz also used the occasion to address the government’s decision announced a day earlier to shutter the IDF’s Galei Tzahal radio station. Referring to the move, he said, “We are ending this anomaly of a civilian broadcasting station inside the IDF that attacks the IDF and its soldiers relentlessly, even during the ongoing war. After I examined the matter, and following identical positions expressed by many defense ministers and chiefs of staff in the past, I will not be deterred and will continue to advance the decision.”
He went on to accuse opponents of politicizing the issue, adding, “Today, some have changed their position out of opposition to the government, and the judicial system has also enlisted to thwart the decision, as part of its struggle against the government. The summer camp is over.”
The Beit El gathering marked a milestone agreement to remove the Binyamin Regional Brigade base from the area’s civilian government compound, where it had been located for nearly four decades. In its place, a new residential neighborhood with 1,200 housing units is planned. The development has already received approval for planning and execution from the Supreme Planning Council.
Among those attending the ceremony were Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs, and senior officials from the Civil Administration. Beit El mayor Shai Alon recited a Shehecheyanu to mark the occasion and led participants in a celebratory toast for the project.
Despite the subsequent clarification from Katz’s office, the Yesha Council welcomed his initial remarks, saying, “We welcome Defense Minister Yisroel Katz on his important announcement on the establishment of new military youth communities in the Gaza Strip. The uprooting of the settlements and the expulsion of the Jews was a terrible injustice, and settlement in Gaza is the rectification. Settlement in the Strip has always strengthened the security of the south of the country and of the entire State of Israel. Now it will also make clear to the enemy that they will pay for the October 7th massacre with the permanent loss of their land.”
The proposed military youth communities, referred to in Hebrew as Garinim, are typically made up of young people or young families who commit to communal living and joint work, often centered on agriculture or structured volunteer frameworks. Members of these groups usually enlist in the IDF together upon reaching draft age, serve as a cohesive unit, and later return to their community to raise families and sustain future growth. Under the current framework, the communities would be affiliated with the Nachal Brigade, though individual military roles would continue to be assigned by the IDF at enlistment.
{Matzav.com}
