The Israeli Security Cabinet approved a resolution that will give Tel Aviv full control over Area C of the West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich touted the decision as a “de facto” annexation of over half of the West Bank.
On Tuesday, the Israeli cabinet gave Smotrich the authority to reclassify portions of Area C, which makes up 60% of the West Bank, as “state land.” “As part of the normalization and de facto sovereignty revolution we’re leading, the cabinet has approved a historic decision: for the first time, Israel is taking sovereign responsibility for the territory and launching formal land registration,” Smotrich explained. “This will provide legal certainty, support settlement expansion, block the PA’s takeover efforts and eliminate the threat of a Palestinian terror state.”
Smotrich is an Israeli settler who has called for greater settlement expansion. His plan for the West Bank includes giving the Palestinians the choice between subjection, emigration, and death. Smotrich has repeatedly advocated for lethal force to be used against Palestinian children.
Area C was a designation created by the 1995 Oslo Accords. Under the deal, the Palestinian Authority was scheduled to take authority over the area. However, Tel Aviv has never relinquished control. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Security Cabinet’s decision means Tel Aviv will never hand authority over Area C to the PA.
“This decision halts the Palestinian Authority’s takeover of Area C land and enables the Defense Ministry to lead formal land registration in the West Bank,” he stated.
The Israeli government is also moving forward with other measures to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank while delegitimizing Palestinian land ownership. The Israeli outlet Haaretz described Tel Aviv’s actions as “enabling Palestinian dispossession.”
One such move is to disqualify all of the land registration done by the PA.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.
