Eyeing Trump support, Israeli minister pushes for West Bank settlement annexation

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Smotrich, who is in charge of the settlements, said on Monday that he had instructed his department to “prepare the necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty.”

It is unclear whether his long-standing desire to apply full Israeli law in West Bank settlements has any chance of being implemented soon. His announcement was likely motivated in large part by staking out political ground in Israel’s fractious domestic politics.

President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US election “brings an important opportunity for the State of Israel,” Smotrich told the Knesset, or Israeli parliament.

The “only way to remove” the “threat” of a Palestinian state, Smotrich added, “is to apply Israeli sovereignty over the entire settlements in Judea and Samaria,” the biblical term by which Israelis refer to the West Bank.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordan in 1967. In the decades since, it has expanded Jewish settlements in the area, which are considered illegal under international law, despite signing a series of peace agreements with the Palestinians in the 1990s.

Around half a million Israelis live in West Bank settlements. Smotrich, himself a settler, has long called for Israeli law to apply in the settlements, and previously opposed the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The minister said he intends to “lead a government decision” that will allow Israel to “work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply sovereignty and achieve American and international recognition.”

During his first term, Trump took several steps in Israel’s favor. In 2017, he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, upending decades of US policy and international consensus. He also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 war and is also considered occupied under international law.

“I have instructed the Settlement Division in the Ministry of Defense and the Civil Administration to begin professional and comprehensive work to prepare the necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty,” Smotrich said on Monday.

“In his first term, President Trump led dramatic steps, including… affirming the legality and legitimacy of settlements in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich added. “Alongside this, there were the Abraham Accords – peace for peace.” Those accords, a set of agreements facilitated by Trump’s first administration, saw Israel normalize relations with four Arab nations.

“We were on the verge of applying sovereignty over the settlements in Judea and Samaria, and now the time has come to do so.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.