Israel will strengthen the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria as a response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s intent to recognize a “Palestinian” state, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.
Katz spoke during a visit to Sa-Nur, a community in northern Samaria that was forcibly evacuated during the 2005 disengagement, which saw four Jewish towns in Samaria destroyed along with 21 in the Gaza Strip.
“We are coming back here today with the decision to reestablish the community, along with the establishment of 21 more new villages in Judea and Samaria,” the minister said of the recent Cabinet decision.
“This is a crushing response to the terrorist groups trying to harm and weaken our hold on this region, but it is also a clear message to Macron and his friends. They will establish a Palestinian state on paper, but we will build the Jewish-Israeli state here on the ground,” continued Katz.
In an interview with the France 5 channel on April 9, Macron said that “we must move toward recognition” of a “Palestinian” state, warning that he could do so at the June summit in New York hosted with Saudi Arabia.
According to the defense minister, Macron’s move “will be thrown into the dustbin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and thrive.”
Katz added, “Don’t threaten us with sanctions. You won’t bring us to our knees, because the State of Israel will not bow its head to threats. We are a people with a long, glorious history. We will stand tall and continue to lead the State of Israel on a safe and strong path, until victory.”
The minister visited northern Samaria alongside Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan, whose family was evicted from Sa-Nur in 2005.
“I am excited to be here on a professional tour to plan, in an organized manner, how to implement the Cabinet decision, together with the minister of defense and at all levels, and to return here,” said Dagan.
“We’re here to come home, to rebuild the home of my family and myself. This community, which will be one of the Samaria Regional Council’s villages, in the heart of the inheritance of the tribe of Menashe, and above all, to strengthen and restore security to the State of Israel.”
“Because always, since the dawn of Zionism—and we saw it here in northern Samaria most clearly—wherever there is settlement, there is security; wherever there is no settlement, there is terror,” he charged.
שר הביטחון ישראל כץ יחד עם ראש מועצת שומרון יוסי דגן בשא-נור שפונתה בהתנתקות וכעת אושרה מחדש.
המתנחלים דוהרים לריבונות. לפני שנתיים וחצי ביקור כזה היה בגדר הזייה. pic.twitter.com/yYwG2oKObm
— إليشع بن كيمون. Elisha Ben Kimon. אלישע בן קימון (@elishabenkimon) May 30, 2025
‘A path of building’
Israel’s Security Cabinet recently approved 22 new Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria, including two in northern Samaria that were uprooted by Israeli forces as part of the 2005 Gaza disengagement.
Some of the approved villages are existing outposts that had thus far been unauthorized under Israeli law, while others will be newly constructed.
“We made a historic decision for the settlement: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel—the State of Israel’s defensive shield,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday.
“With God’s help, we have returned Israel to a path of building, Zionism and vision. Settlement in our ancestral homeland is the protective wall of the State of Israel—and today, we took a major step in fortifying it,” continued Smotrich, who led the initiative in the Security Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has recently warned some European nations that a unilateral recognition of a “Palestinian” state could prompt Jerusalem to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly told France, the United Kingdom and others that the move could lead Israel to annex Area C of Judea and Samaria and legalize outposts.
“Unilateral moves against Israel will be met with unilateral moves by Israel,” Sa’ar told his counterparts, the Israel Hayom daily reported.
