Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich yesterday called for the full annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, pushing for new illegal Israeli settlements deep in Palestinian territories and the expulsion of Palestinians with nationalist aspirations.
The head of the far-right Religious Zionism Party also urged for the return of Israeli settlements to Gaza, undoing the 2005 withdrawal. Speaking at the Middle East Summit in Jerusalem, hosted by Israel 365 for an American evangelical audience, he dismissed the two-state solution, asserting that Israel should unequivocally declare there would be no Palestinian state.
According to the Times of Israel, he instead proposed a strategy of expanding Israeli settlements within the occupied West Bank to signal to “the entire world that a Palestinian state will not be established.”
Smotrich also called for Israeli control over Gaza to be solidified by establishing a permanent civilian and military presence. He argued that without civilians, Israel’s military gains in Gaza would be unsustainable, claiming, “Where there is no civilian presence, there is no long-term military presence, there is no security and there is an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, and we must not allow this.”
Moreover, he added that Palestinians should only retain limited local self-rule “devoid of national characteristics,” and stated that those who insisted on a Palestinian state would be forced to leave.
“Those who do not want or are unable to put aside their national ambitions will receive assistance from us to emigrate to one of the many Arab countries where the Arabs can realise their national ambitions, or to any other destination in the world,” he said.
Other coalition figures similarly dismissed the possibility of a Palestinian state. Israeli leader of the right-wing New Hope Party, Gideon Sa’ar, urged Israel to reject any approach rooted in concessions, advocating instead for a “political iron wall” against international pressures supporting a two-state solution.
He stated: “There will never be any substitute for full operational Israeli military control of the territory from the sea to Jordan.”
Religious Zionism member, Ohad Tal, added: “We must recognise that there can be only Jewish sovereignty between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Some will say this is not realistic and we respond that the two-state scenario has itself proven to be a dangerous delusion. Others will say that the world will not permit it and we respond that once the Jewish people is determined that this is the right way, no obstacle is too great to be overcome.”
READ: Israel PM requests $0.5m to upgrade house security after drone attack