Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressed him to advance more Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Smotrich made the comments a day after the Israeli government approved 19 additional settlements, which are illegal under national law, including eight outposts that have already been built and 11 yet to be established.
The Israeli minister, who also holds a position in the Defense Ministry that puts him in charge of settlement expansion, said at a meeting of his Religious Zionism party that Netanyahu “understood the importance” of establishing more settlements.
“We’re fortifying Israel’s security, we’re fortifying Israel’s eternity and settling our land,” Smotrich said. “We looked at a map and saw how every settlement is part of a security zone – some of the settlements look inward toward other settlements, and some are intended to prevent an invasion.”
Smotrich has been explicit that the expansion of settlements is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, a key goal of Netanyahu. “We are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state on the ground. We will continue to develop, build, and settle in the land of our ancestors,” Smotrich said on Sunday when the new settlements were approved.
President Trump has said he won’t “allow” Israel to annex the West Bank, but the expansion of settlements amounts to de facto annexation since it involves taking Palestinian land. Smotrich said that since the current Israeli government came into power about three years ago, Israel has established a record 69 settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli settlers have been emboldened by the Israeli government and record settlement expansion, leading to a record high number of settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank this year.
