Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an outspoken proponent of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and Israeli annexation of the West Bank, has arrived in the US and met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Wednesday.
The Biden administration reportedly had a tacit ban on Smotrich visiting Washington, although President Biden provided Israel with plenty of weapons and political support to advance policies favored by Smotrich and other far-right Israeli politicians.
“Good morning from Washington,” Smotrich said in a post on X. “After four years in which, under the Biden administration, no ministerial-level meeting took place between the US Treasury Department and the Israeli government – we are now entering the US Treasury Department for a very important meeting.”
Smotrich said he would thank the Trump administration for its “unequivocal support of the State of Israel in the critical war of existence we are waging.”
After meeting with Bessent, Smotrich released what he said was a joint statement from the two officials. The statement said they “reaffirmed the strong and enduring commitment of both nations to a strategic economic partnership” and agreed to “strengthen dialogue mechanisms to enhance collaboration in key areas, including economic policy, technology, and financial regulation.”
Smotrich is also expected to drum up support for the Israeli annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank during his time in Washington. On February 5, President Trump was asked about Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory and said he would have an announcement on the matter in four weeks, and Wednesday marks exactly four weeks since he made those comments.
Besides being the Israeli finance minister, Smotrich also holds a ministerial position that gives him the power to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and he has overseen massive Israeli land grabs in the territory. Smotrich, a settler himself, also favors the establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza and has welcomed Trump’s calls for the permanent expulsion of Palestinians from the territory.
Smotrich recently claimed that the ethnic cleansing plan would start within weeks. He has previously said that it may be “moral and justified” for Israel to starve to death two million Palestinians living in Gaza.
