Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the West Bank will remain Israeli land while highlighting the expansion and legalisation of Jewish settlements across the occupied territory. His comments come as Israel advances the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem — a development critics warn could further divide Palestinian territory and undermine the possibility of a viable two-state solution.
INR Report: Based on reporting by RT HERE.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel will continue expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, describing the territory as “our land” while saying his government is preparing for what he predicts will be a major new wave of Jewish immigration.
Speaking at an event organised by the Binyamin Regional Council, which administers 47 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Netanyahu invited Jewish people around the world to immigrate to Israel under the country's Aliyah system.
“Today, many of our brothers and sisters around the world understand: This is our land and it will remain ours,” Netanyahu said.
“And when I say our land, every Jewish man and every Jewish woman, the door is open. We are waiting for you. We are preparing the door for major Aliyah.”
The remarks come amid renewed international controversy over Israeli settlement construction, particularly the E1 project east of Jerusalem.
104 Settlements and 160 Farms
Netanyahu used the speech to highlight the scale of settlement development undertaken by his government, saying it had established or regularised “104 settlements and 160 farms” and intended to continue.
“It isn’t easy, it’s never easy,” Netanyahu said. “The land of Israel is acquired through suffering.”
He added that Israel was “not giving up” on its vision for the territory.
The legal status of the West Bank remains central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli governments have subsequently established and expanded settlements across the territory.
The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory to be contrary to international law. Israel disputes aspects of that legal and territorial interpretation and commonly refers to the West Bank by the biblical names Judea and Samaria.
The International Court of Justice concluded in a July 2024 advisory opinion that Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and said Israel must cease new settlement activity and evacuate settlers from the territory.
Israel rejected that conclusion, arguing that a political settlement must be achieved through direct negotiations rather than externally imposed legal determinations.
That disagreement is important context when reporting claims about the legal status of settlements rather than presenting either side's political position as uncontested fact.
The E1 Project
The immediate source of renewed international concern is Israel's advancement of the long-disputed E1 settlement project.
According to RT, Israel recently opened bidding for construction of more than 1,200 homes as part of the development.
The broader E1 plan provides for more than 3,400 homes in an area east of Jerusalem and would create a territorial connection between East Jerusalem and the existing Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.
The project's geography makes it particularly contentious.
Opponents argue that construction across E1 would interrupt territorial continuity between Palestinian population centres in the northern and southern West Bank and make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state substantially more difficult.
The plan has therefore become about considerably more than housing.
For supporters of settlement expansion, E1 strengthens Israel's presence around Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. For Palestinians and governments supporting a negotiated two-state solution, it risks changing conditions on the ground before the territory's final status has been negotiated.
International Opposition
The latest expansion has drawn unusually broad criticism.
Eight Arab and Muslim-majority states cited by RT rejected the E1 plan, describing it as a “dangerous escalation.”
Western governments also objected.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, together with the European Commission and 15 European countries, condemned the development.
“The E1 settlement will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank,” the governments said in a joint statement.
They also pointed to escalating settler violence against Palestinian civilians and restrictions affecting the Palestinian economy as reasons for their concern.
That places New Zealand directly among the governments publicly opposing the Israeli decision.
Immigration — But Also Emigration
Netanyahu framed continued development partly around his expectation of a “major Aliyah” — the immigration of Jewish people from overseas to Israel.
Whether such a wave will materialise remains uncertain.
RT cites Israeli emigration figures reported by +972 Magazine suggesting that more than 150,000 Israelis left the country during 2024 and 2025, following the October 2023 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Gaza war.
Those figures provide a counterpoint to Netanyahu's prediction, but they do not by themselves establish what future migration flows will look like.
The significance of Netanyahu's remarks instead lies in the connection he is making between immigration, settlement construction and Israel's long-term territorial ambitions.
Annexation Back on the Agenda
Netanyahu's latest language also fits within a much longer political debate over whether Israel could formally annex parts or all of the West Bank.
He has previously said annexation remained “on the table,” including around the period in which Israel negotiated the Abraham Accords with Arab states in 2020.
Some members of his current coalition have gone considerably further.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has openly advocated applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria — the terminology used by Israel for the West Bank — and reportedly called in June for this to happen before Israel's October elections.
Formal annexation would represent a major escalation beyond settlement construction.
It would also raise profound questions about Palestinian sovereignty, citizenship, borders and the future viability of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu's latest statement does not itself constitute a formal declaration of annexation. But his insistence that the territory “will remain ours,” combined with continuing settlement expansion, ensures that the question remains central to the conflict.
Does This Affect New Zealand?
Yes — directly at the diplomatic level.
New Zealand is one of the governments that has formally opposed the E1 settlement expansion.
That position is consistent with New Zealand's longstanding support for a negotiated two-state solution and opposition to settlement activity that it considers inconsistent with international law.
There is also historical significance.
In December 2016, New Zealand was one of the countries that sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which stated that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 had “no legal validity” and constituted a major obstacle to achieving a two-state solution.
The resolution passed after the United States abstained rather than exercising its veto.
That episode generated significant diplomatic tension between New Zealand and Israel at the time.
A decade later, the fundamental issue remains unresolved.
Netanyahu's latest declaration therefore matters to New Zealand not because Wellington determines what happens in the West Bank, but because New Zealand has repeatedly taken an explicit diplomatic and legal position on the question.
If Israeli settlement expansion continues — or if the Israeli government moves from settlement expansion towards formal annexation — New Zealand will increasingly face the question of what practical meaning its stated support for a two-state solution carries.
For now, Netanyahu's message is unmistakable: whatever international governments may say about the settlements, his government intends to keep building.
Source
RT, 26 August 2026, updated 26 August 2026
Netanyahu declares West Bank ‘our land’
Lead image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Etzel Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 24, 2026. Getty Images / Amir Levy.
Independent reporting. Original context. Credited sources.