Israel seeking to ‘erase’ idea of Palestinian state, say minister

Smotrich said the move was the result of the government “learning the lessons of Oct. 7”—presumably, that expelling Jews from settlements could create a vacuum for terrorists to flourish.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that Israel should learn the lessons of Oct. 7 and reestablish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and he vowed to erase the potential for a Palestinian state.

In an interview with the Ofek weekend newsletter, Smotrich called for the return of settlements in North Samaria, including Ganim and Kadim, to join the approved settlements of Homesh and Sa-Nur.

He said he intends the move to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from the four settlements.

“We’re working on this now. We’ve also decided to bring back Ganim and Kadim, and I hope this will happen in the coming weeks to help right the wrong of the expulsion. The people of Israel are correcting the sin in Gaza, and I hope we’ll succeed there too, completing the rectification in northern Samaria.”

Smotrich said the move was the result of the government “learning the lessons of Oct. 7”—presumably, that expelling Jews from settlements could create a vacuum for terrorists to flourish.

“A significant portion of our current actions in Judea and Samaria stems from the lessons learned on Oct. 7,” Smotrich said. “The vast majority of Israelis recognize that Judea and Samaria serve as Israel’s security buffer—so that Kfar Saba won’t become another Kfar Aza, Netanya won’t become another Be’eri and Nitzanei Oz won’t, God forbid, turn into another Nahal Oz.”

As European countries such as France and the U.K. move toward unilateral and unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state—implicitly a tactic to pressure Israel—Smotrich says that reestablishing the settlements can prevent a two-state solution, which he believes makes Israel more vulnerable to terrorism.

“What we are achieving in this term is simply erasing the idea of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said.

He added, “We are simply removing this idea from the table as part of the lessons from Oct. 7 and establishing facts on the ground,” Smotrich concluded.

2005 disengagementBezalel SmotrichJudea and Samaria