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Israeli ministers demand Jewish resettlement of Gaza at Jerusalem conference

In attendance at the “Settlements Bring Security” conference were twelve cabinet members and 15 coalition MKs.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

An estimated 5,000 people and a dozen Israeli government ministers attended a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday calling for the re-establishment of settlements in Gaza.

In attendance at the “Settlements Bring Security” conference were twelve cabinet members and 15 coalition MKs speaking in favor of resettling Gaza after the war.

Government ministers who attended were Religious Zionism leader Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Otzma Yehudit leader National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Likud ministers Miki Zohar, Haim Katz, Idit Silman, May Golan, Shlomo Karhi and Amichai Chikli.

Speaking at the conference, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pointed out that many of the soldiers fighting in Gaza were forcibly removed 19 years earlier when Jewish settlements on the Gaza Strip were dissolved.

Smotrich said, “We knew what that would bring and we tried to prevent it. Without settlements, there is no security.”

In 2005, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon implemented the Gazan disengagement plan, which included the removal of 9,000 Jewish residents from 21 communities in Gaza.

After the Palestinians were given control of these territories, Hamas forcibly ousted the Fatah party and imposed their control over Gaza.

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Israel has had repeated military conflicts with Hamas culminating in Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7th, when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 250.

In his speech, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described how he protested against disengagement and felt certain there would be “rockets upon Sderot” and “rockets upon Ashkelon” in southern Israel.

“We yelled and we warned,” Ben Gvir said. “If don’t want another October 7, we need to return home and control the land.”
Although the United States has urged Israel to consider allowing the Palestinian Authority to control Gaza after the war, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has said this arrangement is not acceptable.
Netanyahu hasn’t made clear statements about who should rule Gaza after the war but has insisted that Israel must have security control in the Gaza Strip to prevent a repeat of October 7th.