An inauguration across the valley from Beit Sahour

Israeli ministers and settler leaders inaugurated the settlement of Yatziv on Monday in the occupied West Bank, adjacent to the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour, where the site overlooks the town across a West Bank valley. The settlement, previously called Shdema, was marked by celebratory music and construction activity near the hilltop, with soldiers encircling the area as Orthodox Jewish women shared food with babies on their hips.

Settlers portrayed the event as the culmination of a long campaign to turn the spot into a recognized settlement, according to the Associated Press report. Over the years, they said they resisted efforts to build a children’s hospital for Palestinians on the land, while hoping the site would eventually become theirs.

Smotrich says the settlers intend to stay permanently

At the inauguration ceremony, Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich told The Associated Press that, “We are standing stable here in Israel” and that, “We’re going to be here forever.” He also said, “We will never establish a Palestinian state here.”

The AP report described Smotrich as having been in charge of Israeli settlement policy for the past three years and said he oversaw what it characterized as an aggressive construction and expansion effort. It also said the new settlement reflected how settlers feel emboldened amid Israel’s far-right government elected in late 2022 and Trump’s return to the White House in 2025, alongside the impact of a November attack nearby.

From unauthorized outpost to recognized settlement in a month

According to settlers quoted by the AP, the new settlement took just a month to move from an unauthorized outpost of mobile homes to a fully recognized settlement. The settlement name, Yatziv, means “stable” in Hebrew, the report said.

The Associated Press said Smotrich announced approval of the outpost, along with 18 others, on Dec. 21, which capped 20 years of effort, according to Nadia Matar, a settler activist. Matar said, “Shdema was nearly lost to us,” and added, “What prevented that outcome was perseverance.”

What Rosenthal said shifted the timing

Yaron Rosenthal, the settlement council chair, told the AP that an attack created an impetus to justify the settlement. He said the election of Israel’s far-right government in late 2022, Trump’s return to office last year, and the November attack created conditions ripe for settlers to make their move.

Rosenthal said, “We understood that there was an opportunity,” adding, “But we didn’t know it would happen so quickly.” He also said, “Now there is the right political constellation for this to happen.”

A hospital plan that never materialized

The Associated Press reported that in 2006, settlers were infuriated after Israel was in talks with the U.S. to build a Palestinian children’s hospital on the land, according to Hagit Ofran, a director at Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group. Ofran said the U.S. Agency for International Development was funding a “peace park” at the base of the hill.

The AP said the mayor of Beit Sahour urged the U.S. Consulate to pressure Israel to begin hospital construction, citing consulate files obtained through WikiLeaks. It said those files also described settler demonstrations at the site calling on Israel to quash the project.

The report included an email Matt Fuller shared with the AP, in which Fuller wrote that settlers had “no religious, legal, or … security claim to that land,” and added, “They just don’t want the Palestinians to have it — and for a hospital no less — a hospital that would mean fewer permits for entry to Jerusalem for treatment.”

The AP said the hospital was never built and that the site was converted into a military base after the Netanyahu government came to power in 2009. It said settlers then created a makeshift cultural center at the location, with lectures, readings and exhibits.

Olmert: military status made it easier to convert

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister at the time the hospital was under discussion, told the AP that once the site is a military installation, it becomes easier to change its status. “Once it is military installation, it is easier than to change its status into a new outpost, a new settlement and so on,” he said.

Olmert also said Netanyahu was “committed to entirely different political directions from the ones that I had” and that, “They didn’t think about cooperation with the Palestinians,” according to the AP.

Palestinians say the land is theirs; peace park remains empty

The AP said Palestinians argue that the land now home to Yatziv was originally owned by Palestinians from Beit Sahour, according to the town’s mayor, Elias Isseid. Isseid said, “These lands have been owned by families from Beit Sahour since ancient times.”

The report said Isseid worries about additional land loss and that the new settlement “poses a great danger to our children, our families.” The AP also described a bypass road with a new yellow gate that climbs up to Yatziv, and said a peace park at the base stands empty.

AI disclosure and licensing

License: CC0 (public domain), https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/