Smotrich says IDF should do in Judea and Samaria ‘what we did in Gaza’

Smotrich said the campaign should target terrorists, weapons, tunnels and other infrastructure.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to launch a military campaign in Judea and Samaria, dismantle the Palestinian Authority and eliminate terrorist infrastructure across the territory, arguing that the IDF should pursue an approach similar to its campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

“I certainly have solutions. I think we need to go to war in Judea and Samaria. Do there what we did in Gaza. Dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is a terrorist authority,” the Religious Zionist Party leader said in an interview on ynet’s Hebrew-language political podcast “120 and One.”

Smotrich said the campaign should target terrorists, weapons, tunnels and other infrastructure rather than rely on warnings about a potential escalation in Judea and Samaria.

“I want to kill all the terrorists and collect all the weapons,” he said.

“If there is a clear directive, the IDF needs to be told: Just as you dismantled Hamas in Gaza, there will be no terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria — no terrorists, no weapons, no tunnels.”

Smotrich also advocated territorial changes following Israel’s wars, saying he wants Israel to annex territory in Gaza and Lebanon.

“I would like us to annex at least as far as the yellow line in Gaza and as far as the Litani River in Lebanon, because a war that ends along the same lines where it began will not prevent the enemy from going to war again next time.”

Addressing responsibility for the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, Smotrich acknowledged his role as a member of the government at the time.

“Of course I bear collective responsibility. I was a minister in the government on whose watch this happened. I will carry that responsibility with me to the grave,” he said.

On domestic security, Smotrich said his priorities for the next government would include combating illegal weapons and crime in the Galilee and Negev.

He said the Shin Bet had data indicating more than 1 million illegal weapons were held in Israel’s Arab sector.

Smotrich proposed defining the problem as terrorism, involving the Shin Bet and imposing minimum prison terms of 10 or 20 years for weapons offenses.

“We will put thousands of people in prison. You will see Arabs lining up to hand over their weapons.”