Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday laid out his party's plan to dramatically increase the number of Jews living in two areas of the country with large Arab-Israeli populations, ahead of Israeli elections in October.

Far-right minister's pre-election pitch would establish dozens of towns for one million new Jewish residents while curbing Arab building

Finance minister proposes 40 new communities and 1 million additional Jewish residents, saying his party would take control of key land agencies and remove officials he calls…