and no Palestinian state, either.
"Smotrich says Trump’s victory an opportunity to ‘apply sovereignty’ in the West
Bank
New administration could allow Israel to advance annexation of settlements,
claims far-right finance minister, says the groundwork is already being put into
place
By SAM SOKOL FOLLOW
11 November 2024
Donald Trump’s election as the next president of the United States provides Israel
with the opportunity to advance the annexation of Jewish settlements in the
West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared on Monday.
Addressing the press ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction
meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich welcomed Trump’s victory over incumbent Joe
Biden, whose administration he complained had “unfortunately chosen to
intervene in Israeli democracy and personally not to cooperate with me.”
The Republican politician’s first term in 2017-2021 was positive for Israel,
Smotrich stated, citing the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, the
recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and the Trump White House’s
decision to declare that Israel’s West Bank settlements were consistent with
international law.
Trump’s new presidency presents an “important opportunity” to “apply Israeli
sovereignty to the settlements in Judea and Samaria,” added Smotrich, who also
serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, referring to areas of the West Bank
by their biblical names.
“We were a step away from applying sovereignty to the settlements in Judea and
Samaria, and now is the time to do it,” he said, adding: “The year 2025 will, with
God’s help, be the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”
“The only way to remove the danger of a Palestinian terror state from the agenda
is to apply Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlement in the entire Judea and
Samaria,” he said.
Applying sovereignty would likely entail annexing Israeli settlements in the
territories and extending Israeli civil law to their residents. Since capturing the
West Bank during the 1967 Six Day War, the entire territory has remained under
military, rather than civil, rule.
A billboard that displays a photo of US President-elect Donald Trump and reads
‘Congratulations! Trump, make Israel great’ is projected a day after the US
election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Revealing that he had instructed the Settlement Directorate in the Defense
Ministry and the Civil Administration to begin preparing the groundwork for such
an application of sovereignty, Smotrich insisted that while Israel’s enemies saw
October 7 as “the first step in [its] destruction…the new Nazis have to pay a price
in the territory that will be taken from them forever both in Gaza and in Judea and
Samaria.”
While there will be criticism, the Abraham Accords proved that when Israel stands
up for what is right, “in the end, it receives support and appreciation from the US
and the neighboring Arab countries,” Smotrich claimed.
“I have no doubt that President Trump, who showed courage and determination in
his decisions in the first term, will support the State of Israel in this move,” he
added.
Smotrich’s comments echoed those of settler leaders and National Security
Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who last week told lawmakers that it is now “the time for
sovereignty, the time for total victory, the time here in the State of Israel to
legislate a law for the death penalty for terrorists” — and many other laws that he
claimed Trump would not oppose.
Addressing a gathering in Jerusalem late last month, shortly before the US
elections, Smotrich made similar comments, calling for Israel to effectively annex
the West Bank and Gaza Strip — as well as establish new settlements deep
inside Palestinian areas and encourage the emigration of Palestinians who harbor
nationalist aspirations.
During a speech at the Middle East Summit, a conference in Jerusalem organized
by Israel365, an Israeli media outlet aimed at American evangelicals, he also
called for Israeli sovereignty to be extended to the Gaza Strip, claiming Israel’s
war gains would dissipate without troops, and civilians, being posted there on a
more permanent basis.
In his remarks, Smotrich envisioned Palestinians being given limited local self-
rule “devoid of national characteristics,” saying those who continued to support
Palestinian statehood would be unwelcome.
Last week, a former senior aide who reportedly has been tapped to help lead the
Trump transition team told CNN that the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan advanced
by the president-elect during his first term will likely be back on the table when
he returns to office
The Trump peace plan envisioned Israel being able to annex all of its settlements
in the West Bank while granting the Palestinians a pathway to a semi-contiguous
state on the remaining territory. The plan was swiftly rejected by the Palestinian
Authority, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed it with
reservations. His settler allies, who are now part of his coalition, rejected the
proposal, due to its inclusion of a potential Palestinian state.
Addressing reporters in Jerusalem on Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar
rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state as a “realistic” goal amid the
ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
“I don’t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,” the newly
appointed minister said in response to a question over the creation of a
Palestinian state in exchange for a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab
countries.
A Palestinian state would be “a Hamas state,” Sa’ar added, referring to the
Palestinian terror group in Gaza with which Israel has been at war since October
7, 2023.
The normalization drive was a part of the 2020 Abraham Accords, overseen by
Trump, and the process could resume after he returns to the White House.
While Sa’ar spoke in Jerusalem, Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi
Arabia for a summit addressing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is
also fighting Hamas’s allied Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.
Jacob Magid and AFP contributed to this report."
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