JNS
"This is truly wonderful news for our city, which longs for an expanded supply of housing," said Beitar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein.
The ultra-Orthodox city of Beitar Illit in Gush Etzion—already one of the largest in Judea and Samaria—is set to double in size in the coming years, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Wednesday.
The plans for its expansion, which is already in an advanced phase, will increase the territory of the Haredi city by 900 dunams, or 222 acres, according to the report.
Alongside the expansion plan, the Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry is promoting a plan to build 5,000 new housing units in the city, it stated.
"This is truly wonderful news for our city, which longs for an expanded supply of housing and, more broadly, for the strengthening of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel," declared Mayor Meir Rubinstein.
"I would like to thank everyone involved in advancing the expansion of our city and in resolving the housing shortage," he told Israel Hayom.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, Beitar Illit had over 70,000 residents—making it the second-largest municipality in Judea and Samaria after Modi’in Illit, another ultra-Orthodox Jewish city.
An order signed by Israel Defense Forces Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth late last year has the potential to kick-start a massive surge in building throughout cities in Judea and Samaria.
The IDF order—which extended legislation related to urban renewal that was previously only in effect within Israel's pre-1967 borders to Judea and Samaria—could allow for the building of tens of thousands of housing units in the region.
Judea and Samaria municipalities can now approve urban renewal projects through shortened planning procedures that do not require political approval.
Judea and Samaria's Jewish population stands at 529,455, according to a report published on Jan. 1, which cited data from the Interior Ministry.
The natural growth of the region's residents is expected to result in a population in excess of 600,000 by 2030, almost 700,000 by 2035 and over one million by 2050, the report added.
