Israel’s Smotrich calls for West Bank annexation
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has told his department to prepare for the annexation of the occupied West Bank following Donald Trump’s election victory, according to Middle East Eye and agencies.
At a meeting of his far-right party Religious Zionism, he said that an “important opportunity” had been provided by Trump’s victory and that “the time has come to apply sovereignty” over the West Bank.
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His office said in a statement that Smotrich said he had instructed Israeli authorities overseeing West Bank settlements “to begin professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure” for extending sovereignty.
Smotrich is not just the finance minister but also has a role in the defence ministry overseeing the settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law.
Smotrich and others on the Israeli right have been celebrating Trump’s victory, hoping it will allow Israel to officially annex more Palestinian territory it occupied in 1967.
Israel has already annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, the latter of which is recognised internationally as a part of Syria. The US however recognised both annexations in Trump’s first term.
Smotrich said he would push the new Trump administration to recognise the annexation of the West Bank.
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During Trump’s first term, many believed Israel would annex Area C, an area of the West Bank fully controlled by Israel. However, this never came to fruition, potentially due to international pressure.
Smotrich has said Israel should expand until its borders reach Damascus. “It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus,” he said in an interview for the documentary, In Israel: Minister of Chaos, citing the “greater Israel” ideology, which envisions the expansion of Israel across the region.
Middle East Eye
