Israeli Government Approves New Funding for Violent Settlers Under Cover of the Iran War
March 12, 2026—As the United States and Israel pursue a war of choice with Iran, the Israeli government has made its budget priorities clear: On Tuesday, the Israeli government approved at least an additional $101 million (316 million shekels) to boost settlement activity – including funding projects implicated in settler attacks on Palestinian civilians – while cutting funds to education, healthcare, and social services.
This decision comes as the United States and Israel are engaged in a widening war with Iran that will almost certainly lead to requests for Congress to supply billions of dollars in supplemental military assistance to Israel.
As reported by Peace Now, the vehicle for this new funding is a larger basket of nearly $1.6 billion (5 billion shekels) in discretionary “coalition” funds. The new coalition funds include line items for settlements in the West Bank that total 316 million shekels. Among these line items is 50 million to subsidize unauthorized settler “farms” and outposts that have been used to violently drive Palestinian communities from their land.
316 million shekels only accounts for the line items explicitly funding settlements. Other parts of the new package are sure to flow to settlements. Additionally, the government plans to allocate another $407 million (1.273 billion shekels) to the Settlement Ministry in the regular 2026 budget.
NJN President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “This week 6 Palestinian civilians were killed in terror attacks by settlers in the West Bank. While Israeli officials are condemning the violence, these budget moves show that the condemnations are nothing but lip service.
“Americans deserve to understand the full picture. When the Israeli government diverts its own resources to expand settlements, facilitate settler violence, and entrench occupation, it inevitably turns to US taxpayers to help cover the costs of war. Every shekel spent subsidizing settlements is a shekel not spent on Israel’s security, its economy, or the well-being of its citizens.
“At a moment of profound regional crisis, the Israeli government should be directing its resources toward protecting civilians and stabilizing the region, not toward accelerating settlement expansion or financing the most radical settlers. This outrageous decision highlights the true priorities of Netanyahu’s regime. American taxpayers should not have to pay for his annexationist policies.”
