Israel Establishes Infrastructure Task Force to Connect New West Bank Settlements to National Grids

Energy Minister Eli Cohen and Samaria leader Yossi Dagan launch a task force to bring water and power to new West Bank settlements under the Plan for a Million.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 9, 2026, 7:55 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Times of Israel

Strategic Alignment for Settlement Expansion

The Israeli Ministry of Energy and the Samaria District Council have formalized a partnership to develop essential utilities for a new wave of settlements in the northern West Bank. This professional working group, announced by Yossi Dagan’s office on April 9, 2026, aims to integrate several recently legalized outposts into the national electricity and water frameworks. The move signals a transition from legislative approval to physical permanence for these communities, ensuring that newly constructed homes meet standard Israeli utility requirements. The task force is comprised of high-ranking officials from the Energy Ministry, the Samaria Regional Council, the Israel Electric Corporation, and the Mekorot national water company.

The Blueprint for a Million Residents

Central to this infrastructure push is the ambitious "Plan for a Million," a strategic roadmap initiated by Dagan in 2022. The plan seeks to expand the Israeli population in the Samaria district from its current level of approximately 49,000 residents to one million by the end of 2025. By laying down high-capacity sewage, water, and power lines now, the government is preparing for a mass influx of citizens. Dagan noted that the infrastructure developments are being dictated directly by the plan’s map, which envisions Samaria as the "heart of the land" and a primary zone for Israeli residential growth.

Targeted Communities in the Northern West Bank

The infrastructure upgrades will primarily benefit a cluster of settlements that were either newly established or retroactively legalized by the government in May 2025. Key locations identified for the grid connections include Rehavam, Eibal, Homesh, and Sa Nur. Homesh and Sa Nur are particularly significant as they were previously evacuated during the 2005 disengagement but have since become focal points for the current government's resettlement efforts. The inclusion of these sites in the Energy Ministry’s working group effectively ends their status as isolated outposts and merges them into the state’s long-term urban planning.