An audio recording obtained by the American newspaper “The New York Times” revealed a secret plan by the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to strengthen Israeli control over the occupied West Bank and abort any attempt to be part of the Palestinian state.
The newspaper’s reporters listened to about a half-hour recording of the speech given by one of the attendees, a researcher from Peace Now, an anti-occupation human rights group.
During a meeting with a group of settlers on June 9, Smotrich said, “Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is engaged in a secret plan to change the way it governs the West Bank, to strengthen Israel’s control over it irreversibly, without accusing it of officially annexing it.”
In his speech, Smotrich stressed that the main goal of this plan is to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of the Palestinian state.
“I’m telling you, it’s very dramatic. Such changes are like changing the DNA of the regime,” he added.
The audio recording shows that Smotrich laid out a clear plan to gradually wrest control of the West Bank from the hands of the Israeli army and hand it over to civilian employees working under him in the Ministry of Defense, and some powers have already been transferred to civilians.
He added, “We created a separate civilian system, but at the same time the government allowed the Ministry of Defense to remain involved in the process so that it would appear to the world that the army is still at the heart of governance in the West Bank. In this way, it will be easy to swallow the West Bank without anyone accusing us of annexing it.” .
While Smotrich publicly opposes giving up control of the West Bank, the official position of the Israeli government is that the status of the West Bank remains open to negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders.
Transfer of powers
Yesterday, Thursday, a Guardian newspaper report said that the Israeli army transferred significant legal powers in the West Bank to civil servants who support the settlers and who work for the far-right minister, Bezalel Smotrich.
The newspaper said that Smotrich and his allies have always maintained that controlling the Civil Administration or large parts of it constitutes a means to expand Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, and “their ultimate goal is direct control by the central government and its ministries.”
The newspaper added in a report on the subject that this development “reduces the possibility of imposing legal controls on the expansion and development of settlements.”
The report stated that Israeli politicians have long sought to find ways to permanently seize or annex the West Bank since its occupation in 1967.
The newspaper considered this to be the latest coup for Smotrich, who holds the position of Finance Minister, and also became a Minister in the Ministry of Defense after a coalition agreement between his far-right political party and the Likud Party led by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
It is noteworthy that the Civil Administration is primarily responsible for planning and construction in Area C of the West Bank, that is, 60% of the occupied Palestinian territories under full Israeli administrative and security control.
Reports in Israeli media say that US officials privately discussed the possibility of imposing sanctions on Smotrich due to his destabilizing influence in the West Bank.
It is noteworthy that Smotrich himself lives in an illegal settlement in the West Bank in accordance with international law.