Smotrich demands de facto annexation across West Bank in gov't negotiations - Lahav Harkov

 

by Lahav Harkov

Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria are under military government. Bezalel Smotrich seeks to dismantle the Civil Administration entirely.

 

Former Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich demanded that Israeli settlements be governed by the relevant ministries, rather than the IDF’s Civil Administration, as part of coalition negotiations with presumptive next prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In meetings with the leaders of parties in the right-wing bloc this week, Netanyahu attempted to reach a slimmed-down coalition agreement on cabinet portfolios and for policy aims to be worked out after the government is sworn in. The party leaders have thus far rejected that offer, and the changes in the West Bank are among Smotrich’s policy demands.

What does he want to change?

Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria are under military government, with the IDF’s Civil Administration signing orders to apply most of the same laws to them as sovereign Israel. Smotrich seeks to dismantle the Civil Administration entirely.

Moving the authority over settlements from the military to the regular government would be akin to extending Israel’s sovereignty to those parts of the West Bank, a step towards annexation.

Head of the Religious Zionist Party MK Bezalel Smotrich speaks during a rally against the Israeli government in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2021. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)

Smotrich’s spokesman confirmed the demand, which was first reported in Israel Hayom, saying that “the Right won the trust of the voters and expects its representatives to keep their promises. Religious Zionism will float these topics in the negotiations rooms and will certainly demand that the Right rule and keep its word and promises to the public.”

“The citizens of Israel have long known the depth of Smotrich’s ideology,” the spokesman stated. “The chairman of the Religious Zionist Party has transparently made his opinions and his plans accessible to the citizens of Israel for years.”

Smotrich has submitted bills to cancel the Civil Administration several times. In the bills’ explanatory portions, he wrote that it is managed in an “ad hoc” fashion with civil and military elements that have “led to many failures in efficiency and services given to the population living in Judea and Samaria.”

The Religious Zionist Party leader also seeks to change the process of authorizing construction in Judea and Samaria, which requires the prime minister and defense minister to approve plans at two different stages. Smotrich would like the leadership to only have to authorize the plan once, to avoid the situation that often arose in which there are repeat international condemnations for the same project.

Smotrich is expected to be a cabinet minister in the new government and has asked for the finance ministry, while Netanyahu has reportedly offered him the education ministry.

Lahav Harkov

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-721795

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