National Religious Youth hung approximately 1,000 Israeli flags in Galilee ahead of faction meeting

National Religious Youth and Galilee Youth hung approximately 1,000 Israeli flags overnight along Galilee roads and at the new settlement point adjacent to Majd al-Krum, ahead of the National Religious faction meeting that will take place there in the morning, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlement Affairs Minister Orit Strock expected to attend.

According to the activists, the operation of hanging flags was intended to express Israeli presence and sovereignty in the Negev and Galilee. According to them, this is a first step toward a broad process of strengthening Jewish settlement in these areas and of transferring the 'settlement revolution' from Judea and Samaria to the Negev and Galilee.

The move comes amid tensions recorded in recent weeks surrounding a compound that included tents and infrastructure in an area under the responsibility of the Jewish National Fund between Majd al-Krum and Gillon. Residents of Majd al-Krum and the local council argued that this was an attempt to establish a Jewish outpost and protested, while the groups holding the area argued that the compound was established for the purpose of sheep herding only.

Following the confrontation, the Jewish National Fund held an emergency meeting and decided to dismantle the temporary structures and move them from the point where the dispute arose. According to the plan developed this week, the grazing compound will be reduced and moved approximately 400 meters from the focal point of friction, and in its place settlers from Judea and Samaria will be replaced by men of the 'New Guard' from Galilee.

At the faction meeting, its members, led by Minister Smotrich and Minister Strock, are expected to address strengthening Jewish presence in Galilee and expanding settlements in the Negev and Galilee. Israeli police are preparing in the area with reinforced forces due to concerns about riots, public disorder and road blockades.