Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the more extreme members of the Israeli government, will travel to Washington in the coming days to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. His visit could have significant implications for US policy toward Israel’s goal of annexing the occupied West Bank.
Smotrich is an outspoken proponent of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in the Strip. He is known for genocidal rhetoric, previously saying it may be “moral and justified” for Israel to starve to death two million Palestinians living in Gaza.
According to The Times of Israel, the Biden administration had a tacit policy of boycotting Smotrich and other extremist ministers. But President Biden still provided Israel with the weapons needed to achieve the goals of Smotrich and other far-right Israeli politicians.
Smotrich also holds a ministerial position in the Defense Ministry, which gives him the ability to expand settlements in the West Bank. A settler himself, Smotrich has long been on record calling for the Israeli annexation of the territory and has said that President Trump’s second term in office gives Israel the “opportunity” to advance that goal.
Smotrich has also praised President Trump’s plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, which would require ethnic cleansing. Earlier this month, Smotrich claimed that Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza would begin “within weeks.”
The news of Smotrich’s visit comes as the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal is incredibly fragile amid continued Israeli violations. Smotrich has threatened to quit the government if Israel doesn’t restart its genocidal war after the first phase, which ends on Saturday.
Smotrich has claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave him a guarantee that after the first phase, Israel would restart military operations in Gaza with the goal of a “gradual takeover of the entire Gaza Strip.”
