• Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has instructed his department to prepare for the annexation of the West Bank.
• Smotrich aims to push the new U.S administration in supporting Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, and “Greater Israel,” including parts of the Middle East.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has instructed his department to prepare for the annexation of the occupied West Bank following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. elections. Addressing a meeting of his far-right Religious Zionism party, Smotrich described Trump’s win as an “important opportunity” and declared that “the time has come to apply sovereignty” over the West Bank.
In a statement from his office, Smotrich revealed that he had directed Israeli authorities overseeing West Bank settlements “to begin professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure” for extending sovereignty.
In addition to his role as finance minister, Smotrich holds a position within the defence ministry, overseeing illegal settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Smotrich, along with other far-right Israeli politicians, has celebrated Trump’s electoral success, hoping it will pave the way for U.S. approval of Israel’s formal annexation of Palestinian territories seized in 1967.
Israel has previously annexed East Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights in unilateral actions that were never recognised by the international community. They were, however, acknowledged by Washington during Trump’s first term. At Monday’s meeting, Smotrich affirmed his intent to pressure the Israeli government to secure recognition from the incoming Trump administration for the annexation of the entire West Bank.
During Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency, Israel appeared poised to announce the annexation of Area C, the portion of the West Bank fully controlled by the Israeli military. However, those plans were ultimately shelved due to significant international pressure and wavering support from Washington.
Smotrich has consistently advocated for an aggressively expansionist Israeli policy, and last month he asserted that Israel should expand “little by little” until its borders reach Damascus. “It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus,” he stated in an interview for the documentary In Israel: Ministers of Chaos, referencing the “Greater Israel” ideology, which envisions the state’s territorial expansion across the Middle East.
