Abdullah Al-Haqim 
3/13/2025–|Last update: 3/13/202502:52 PM (Mecca time)
A settlement project aims to include the settlement blocs surrounding the city of Jerusalem, which is known as “collar settlements”, which gives Israeli settlers a broader geographical space, a proposal presented by members of the Israeli Knesset aimed at expanding the borders of the Jerusalem municipality to include Israeli settlements in the West Bank, to impose wider Israeli control over the region and strengthen the Jewish majority in the city.
An old term
Israel used “Greater Jerusalem” name for the first time in June 1967 after its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and refers to an expansion project aimed at including large areas of the lands surrounding the city of Jerusalem, including Israeli settlements to the official borders of the city.
It is an area with an area of about 440 square kilometers, and includes East and Western Jerusalem, along with a number of settlements, most notably His Excellency Adumim, Ghosh Etzion, and Zeev’s licks.
“Greater Jerusalem” project
In 1971, a member of the Israeli Knesset, Shmuel Namir, presented a project called “Greater Jerusalem”, and suggested expanding the borders of the occupied city of Jerusalem to include the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, in addition to 27 other villages in the West Bank.
In 1972, the occupation government launched a settlement campaign towards these areas with the aim of integrating them into settlement neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and settlements expanded in the city’s vicinity east and west to implement the project.
In the eighties of the twentieth century during the period of the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the goal was to housing a million settlers in Jerusalem, to cause a demographic change that leads to the displacement of Jerusalemites.
In the early 1990s, the Isaac Rabin government continued to build new settlement units according to the contracts concluded by the previous government, and that stage witnessed the largest campaign of confiscation of the Palestinian territories on Jerusalem within the framework of implementing the structural plan for Greater Jerusalem, which aims to bring about a demographic change that enhances Israeli domination of Jerusalem.
In 2000, talk began about the inclusion of the collar settlements in the city of Jerusalem as part of what was known at the time as the “2020 Plan”, as Israel was hoping to complete the implementation of this plan by 2020.
This project dates back to the circle of discussion in Israel from time to time, within the framework of the efforts of the Israeli government to impose a new reality in Jerusalem, ignoring international decisions and covenants that classify settlement expansion within the violations of international law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsv-qn-a4uo
The draft law in the Knesset
On July 10, 2017, in light of the accelerated settlement expansions and decisions to cancel the residency of Jerusalemites, the “Greater Jerusalem Law” draft was presented for the first time in the Knesset by Joav Kish and Yisrael Katz, two members of the Likud party.
The initial drafting of the project stipulated the inclusion of the Gush Etzion regional settlement council, the municipalities of Betar Eilate, His Excellency Adumim, and the local councils, Zihaef and April, to the borders of the city of Jerusalem, which means the merging of 19 Jewish settlements inside the city, and turning it into a larger entity.
However, the project was suspended in the last moments due to the American intervention despite its survival on the agenda of the Knesset, and in this context, the then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the American administration requested the postponement of a vote on a project to include settlements to Jerusalem.
At the end of February 2025, the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs in the Knesset discussed a draft law to include settlements in the vicinity of Jerusalem to the city with a proposal from The Likud party, a member of the Likud Party, and the proposal to impose Israeli law on Greater Jerusalem and expand its areas of influence on more lands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwz1esapztc
Project objectives
- The northern West Bank separated from the south, which isolates the Palestinian cities from each other, including the city of Jerusalem.
- The establishment of a safe passage linking the coastal areas and the Jordan Valley with the aim of enhancing Israeli security control and protecting Jerusalem from any possible military threat from Jordan.
- Including a Jewish majority versus an Arab minority to change the population balance in the region.
- Expanding Israeli control over the largest possible area of the West Bank lands and integrating it into occupied Jerusalem, with the aim of enhancing the Judaization of the city and subjecting these areas to Israeli sovereignty.
- The fragmentation of Palestinian population communities by establishing a network of settlement roads that penetrate the West Bank, in addition to strengthening the Israeli military presence.
- Thwarting any plans for Palestinian construction and expansion, by imposing restrictions on the lands available for construction and development in the West Bank.
The mechanism of implementing the “Greater Jerusalem” project
Israel has adopted a number of systematic measures to implement the “Greater Jerusalem” project, with the aim of isolating the city and imposing full Israeli control over it, with besieging and reducing the Palestinian presence within it.
- Beat the Arab presence inside the walls of the Old City and empty it from its Palestinian residents
This is by working to break up the Arab presence within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and implement the procedures for forced displacement and seize Palestinian homes and property.
The strengthening of settlements within the Old City through Jewish organizations, including the Idad Association, in addition to financing the Judaization projects for archaeological and historical monuments, with the intensification of excavations under the Al -Aqsa Mosque.
- Separation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings
On March 30, 1993, the Israeli government issued a decision to close East Jerusalem, which resulted in isolating the city from the rest of the West Bank.
New settlements were established around Jerusalem aimed at tightening Israeli control and cutting geographical communication between the Palestinian neighborhoods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlhjb49y1a
- Expanding settlements and linking them to Great Jerusalem
After Ehud Olmert (from the Likud Party) took over the position of mayor of Jerusalem on October 14, 1993, the Israeli government agreed to intensify settlement construction within the “Greater Jerusalem” scheme.
The government has ratified the inclusion of major settlements for Jerusalem, including His Excellency Adumim, Zeev’s Blings, Zeev, Gosh Etzion, and Moden Ayelit.
- Judaization of Jerusalem and promoting administrative control
By imposing administrative and military measures that limit the Palestinian urban expansion and hinder any Palestinian construction projects, transfer the Israeli government ministries and institutions to East Jerusalem, to reshape the civilizational scene of Jerusalem by changing urban and heritage monuments, and imposing a Jewish character on the city.
