Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that he is committed to securing equal rights for 500,000 illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank, while also vowing to thwart any attempts to establish a Palestinian state.
In a post on X, Smotrich said, “I will continue to exert all my strength to ensure that the half a million settlers, who are on the front lines and under fire, enjoy the same rights as every other citizen in Israel and to establish facts on the ground that will prevent the formation of a Palestinian state.”
Smotrich, a leading figure in the far-right Religious Zionism Party, stated that preventing the creation of a Palestinian state is his “life’s mission” and insisted that his stance is not merely political, but a matter of national and existential importance for Israel.
As the minister in charge of settlement affairs in the West Bank, Smotrich plays a key role in advancing policies that support illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The West Bank is home to approximately 500,000 Israeli settlers, along with an additional 230,000 in occupied East Jerusalem.
In July, the Knesset passed a resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state, calling it an “existential threat” to Israel’s security.
Tensions in the occupied West Bank have escalated in recent weeks as Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of nearly 41,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since 7 October. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 692 people have been killed and over 5,700 injured by Israeli forces in the West Bank during this period.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has previously ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as “unlawful” and called for it to be ended “as swiftly as possible,” with reparations provided to Palestinians for decades of occupation.