Jerusalem's decision to resume the process of registering land in Judea and Samaria intends to put an end to the "current chaos that is bad for everyone — Jews and Arabs alike," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who led the move, told JNS on Monday afternoon.

"We have been controlling Judea and Samaria for over 50 years, but the land registration process was halted — the British and the Jordanians registered 30% of the land, and we stopped it," Smotrich explained, speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism Party in Jerusalem.

According to Smotrich, who also serves as a second minister in Israel's Defense Ministry with responsibility for civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, "when land is not formally registered, it is not recorded anywhere; there are many mistakes, arguments and disputes."

The current reality, he said, "the current chaos, is bad for everyone — Jews and Arabs alike. It harms rights. All we want to do is create order."

Sunday's decision to reopen land registration for the first time since the 1967 Six-Day War "does not dispossess anyone of their rights—on the contrary, it protects those rights," the finance minister continued.

"Once there is an orderly registration in the land registry, everyone can bring their evidence, and land that is privately owned will be registered in that person's name. Now they're protected 200 years into the future," he said, adding: "Everything will be recorded, everything will be transparent — and this is how it is done in every country."

Announcing the decision on Sunday, Smotrich, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin said that opening land registration would mean, among other things, "the registration of extensive areas in Judea and Samaria that belong to the state in the name of the state."

The Cabinet decision "constitutes an appropriate response to the illegal settlement procedures that the Palestinian Authority is promoting in Area C in violation of the law and agreements," the three concluded.

The Palestinian Authority, which Israel has said employs hundreds of workers to create its own registry with the help of European and other nations, said the move amounted to a "grave escalation and a flagrant violation of international law" and the "de facto annexation" by Jerusalem of Judea and Samaria.

P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas urged on the international community, the U.N. Security Council and the United States, to intervene "immediately."

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel on Monday and called on the Jewish state to "immediately reverse these measures."

"The secretary-general condemns the Israeli government's Feb. 15 decision to resume land registration procedures in Area C of the occupied West Bank," said his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.

"Such measures, including Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, are not only destabilizing but, as recalled by the International Court of Justice, unlawful," the spokesperson claimed.

However, the Regavim Movement, which has long been at the forefront of monitoring illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria, praised the Israeli government's latest "historic Zionist decision" for the area.

"Under the auspices of the vacuum on the part of Israel, the Palestinian Authority began registering illegal land," it said. "With the assistance of foreign governments, it registered in the ‘Palestinian land registry' over 1.3 million dunams [130,000 hectares]," or 321,000 acres, according to Regavim.

Israel's registry will "bring an end to a disgraceful freeze of nearly six decades that created a severe legal and administrative vacuum and opened the door to prolonged land disputes, document forgery and large-scale, unlawful land seizures," the Israeli NGO concluded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led an unprecedented drive to expand control of Judea and Samaria, approving some 50,000 homes and more than 50 Jewish communities since December 2022.

Last week, the Cabinet had already approved lifting confidentiality from land registry records in the area; canceling restrictions on land sales to non-Arabs; and abolishing the need for prior approval for purchases.

Nearly 70% of Israeli citizens want Jerusalem to extend its full legal sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, according to a 2025 survey.

Fifty-eight percent of Israeli Jews believe that communities in Judea and Samaria contribute to the security of the country, according to a survey the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) published on March 11, 2025.

This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.