Tel Aviv, Israel
—
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., Israel took a series of drastic steps this week to tighten its grip on the occupied West Bank.
On Sunday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved measures that would expand the country’s executive powers and allow it to purchase land for settlement expansion, in a move that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “fundamentally change the legal and civil realities” in the West Bank. This territory is held by the United Nations and the international community for a future Palestinian state.
Israeli measures include increased Israeli enforcement in Areas A and B of the West Bank, designated areas under Palestinian security control under the Oslo Accords. The two regions together account for about 40% of the territory.
Israel will also reactivate the Land Acquisition Commission, which allows the state to actively purchase land in the West Bank for settlement expansion. Another measure would give Hebron’s civil administration and a small number of Jewish settlers construction and city powers, allowing them to expand the settlement without consulting the Palestinian city of Hebron.
The Security Cabinet also approved measures to make it easier for settlers to purchase land in the occupied West Bank, a measure aimed at expanding settlement activity and establishing the Jewish population.
“We are normalizing life in the territories, removing bureaucratic barriers, fighting for our land, and deepening our presence across Israel,” Smotrich, who has openly boasted of his efforts to crush the idea of a Palestinian state, said in a statement. Smotrich, who also serves as defense secretary, has pushed for rapid settlement expansion, particularly under US President Donald Trump.
“We will continue to obliterate the idea of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the move, calling it “a continuation of the comprehensive war waged by the occupation government against the Palestinian people and an unprecedented escalation targeting the presence and national and historical rights of the Palestinian people throughout Palestine.”
The PA chairman said in a statement that this amounted to “the practical implementation of an annexation and displacement plan.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement that Israel’s decision “confirms its colonial project aimed at swallowing all Palestinian land and displacing its indigenous peoples.”
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war and subsequently began establishing Jewish settlements there, which is considered illegal by international law, the United Nations, and much of the international community. The United Nations also considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied territory where Palestinians aspire to a future state.
In an interview with Time magazine in October, President Trump said he would not recognize Israel’s annexation of the West Bank. “I made a promise to the Arab countries so that won’t happen,” he said. “If that happens, Israel would lose all support from the United States.” The Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan also mentions a path to “self-determination and statehood for the Palestinian people.”
But Israel has expanded Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and deepened its grip on the West Bank, pursuing policies that critics have deemed de facto annexation, with the declared intention of making the establishment of a Palestinian state impossible. Last May, Israel approved the largest settlement expansion in the West Bank in decades, authorizing the establishment of 22 new settlements.
In response to the move, anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said: “Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to dismantle Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but in reality he chose to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, renege on agreements signed by Israel itself, and impose de facto annexation. This is completely contrary to the will of the people, Israel’s interests, and President Trump’s clear position.”
Gershon Baskin, a peace activist who has played a key role in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for years, issued an outspoken statement on social media saying, “Israel’s occupation is illegal and the Israeli government is now taking further steps that violate international law.”
Fix:
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Bezalel Smotrich’s role at the Ministry of Defense.
