Israeli cabinet takes major step toward annexation of the West Bank
Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich arrive for a Cabinet meeting on 23 February 2023
Yumna Patel writes in Mondoweiss:
This week the Israeli government made a dangerous move that makes annexation of the West Bank an even closer reality, analysts say.
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet met and announced plans to advance the construction of more than 4,560 settlement units in the West Bank. The cabinet also amended a law to allow settlers to return to previously evacuated settlements and outposts, including the recently reinhabited Homesh outpost.
The announcement was condemned by Palestinian and UN officials, who called on Israel to halt settlement expansion. Even the US chimed in, with the State Department calling it “deeply troubling.”
But even more disturbing than the furthering of thousands of settlements in the West Bank and the steps towards legalizing violent outposts is the not-so-small transfer of power that was formalized in Sunday’s meeting, which will make future settlement construction much easier.
According to an Axios report, the cabinet passed a resolution transferring the authority to approve settlement building plans from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, to ultra-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party.
A little background on Smotrich, in case you aren’t familiar: Smotrich, a settler himself, is known for his anti-Palestinian views and advocating to “wipe out” the Palestinian town of Huwwara. Smotrich is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right governing coalition, and in addition to openly saying “Palestinians don’t exist,” has openly supported the illegal annexation of the West Bank. “We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,” Smotrich said at Sunday’s meeting.
In addition to the official transfer of powers, which comes along with even more powers in the West Bank for Smotrich announced earlier this year, the resolution reduced the stages of political approval that settlement planning must go through, from the previous four to five stages, to now just one or two stages. It also vastly shrunk the window of opportunity for any sort of intervention in the settlement construction process.
With Smotrich in control, plus the amended laws, settlement expansion has gotten much easier for the pro-settlement camp. It is also sounding alarms (again) over the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Is annexation more possible now, or is it already a reality? And what does it mean for the 3+ million Palestinians living in the West Bank?