Far-right Israeli minister orders preparations for West Bank annexation | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ordered preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January 2025.

In a statement on Monday, Smotrich voiced his hope that the new administration in Washington will recognise Israel’s push for “sovereignty” over the occupied territory.

In addition to his finance portfolio, Smotrich – who himself lives in an illegal Israeli settlement – also holds a position within Israel’s Defence Ministry where he oversees the administration of the occupied West Bank and its settlements.

“2025: the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X, using the biblical name by which Israel refers to the occupied West Bank.

At a meeting of his far-right faction in the Israeli parliament or Knesset on Monday, Smotrich welcomed Trump’s US presidential election victory over Kamala Harris and said he had instructed the Defence Ministry’s Settlement Directorate and Civil Administration to lay the groundwork for annexation.

“I have directed the start of professional work to prepare the necessary infrastructure to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” he said,

“I have no doubt that President Trump, who showed courage and determination in his decisions during his first term, will support the State of Israel in this move,” he added.

Smotrich said there is broad agreement within Israel’s ruling coalition for the move and regarding opposition against the formation of a Palestinian state.

“The only way to remove this danger from the agenda is to apply Israeli sovereignty over the settlements in Judea and Samaria,” he declared.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that while leaders of the settler movement may be confident that Trump could be inclined to support such moves, the government had made no decision.

“A decision has not yet been made on the issue,” Saar told a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday.

“The last time we discussed this issue was in the first term of President Trump,” he said. “And so let’s say that if it will be relevant, it will be discussed again also with our friends in Washington.”

The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Since then, Israeli settlements have expanded despite being illegal under international, and, in the case of settlement outposts, Israeli law.

Smotrich has previously stated his intention to extend Israeli sovereignty over the occupied territories, thwarting the creation of a Palestinian state.

He has also threatened to destabilise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition if a ceasefire is negotiated with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern front.

“When [Smotrich] talks about enforcing Israeli sovereignty, he is talking about the annexation of the occupied West Bank, which is part of the Israeli government agenda,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan because Al Jazeera has been banned from operating from inside Israel.

Odeh noted that Netanyahu has also added an observer minister from Smotrich’s party to his cabinet.

“When Smotrich talks about annexation, many observers say we have to believe him,” she said.

During his first term as US president, Trump in 2017 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, overturning decades of US policy and international consensus. He also supported policies that allowed for continued settlement expansion and proposed a plan for a “Palestinian entity” that would lack full sovereignty.

Earlier this year, the Israeli military’s Civil Administration handed more control over the occupied West Bank to the Settlements Administration led by Smotrich, granting it control over a remit including building regulations and the management of farmland, parks and forests.

Since joining Netanyahu’s coalition government, Smotrich has openly advocated for expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as steps toward eventual annexation.