Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel’s decision to increase its control and penetration in the West Bank. Israel’s Security Cabinet on Sunday, February 8, 2026, approved major changes in the rules related to buying and construction of land in the West Bank. This decision has come just three days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump. Saudi Arabia has called it a major threat to regional peace.
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What rules has Israel changed for the West Bank?
The Israeli government has changed several old laws governing land control in the West Bank (which the Israeli cabinet calls Judea and Samaria). Under the new order approved by the Security Cabinet, it will now be easier than before to buy and occupy land there.
Rules for purchasing land: Decades-old Jordanian laws that previously prevented Jewish private citizens from buying land in the West Bank have been lifted.
Registry Record: Now the records of land ownership have been made public, which will make it easier to find out which land is vacant or whose land it is.
Changes in Hebron: The authority to grant construction permits in the Hebron settlement has now passed from the Palestinian Authority (PA) municipality to Israeli government officials.
Land Acquisition Committee: A government committee has been relaunched that will ‘actively’ purchase land to expand settlements.
Israel showered money in the budget
Israel has allocated a huge amount of money in its 2026 budget to implement these new rules and expand settlements. Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry together to strengthen security infrastructure and roads NIS 725 million (about $192 million) A three-year budget has been decided.
Furthermore, for the community that settled in Hebron, approximately NIS 302 million ($93 million) Are kept separately. A new organization called ‘Hill Administration’ has been created to coordinate the activities of the settlements, which will be given 2 million shekels annually until 2028. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the OIC have criticized these steps, saying that this could destroy hopes of a ‘two-state solution’.
