Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler in the Palestinian occupied territories, was recently recorded telling supporters that the far-right government is engaged in a clandestine effort to change the way Israel occupied the West Bank, according to a report Friday, June 21, that cited a recording of the Religious Zionist party leader.

The New York Times said the recording was from an event held earlier in the month at which Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry, told supporters that the goal was to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state. “I’m telling you, it’s mega-dramatic,” Smotrich was quoted as saying. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”

A demonstration in Jerusalem against the Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, August 24, 2023 (Photo: Peace Now)

The event was attended by settlement leaders as well as Minister of National Missions of Israel, Orit Strook. Both Smotrich and Strook’s offices fund about 63 “unapproved settlements” in the hopes of getting official approval for their establishment. These settlements will pose a challenge to the establishment of a Palestinian state. In the recording, Smotrich confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aware of the details of the plan, much of which was part of the coalition agreement allowing the prime minister to remain in power. “Netanyahu is with us all the way,” the Finance Minister boasted in his speech.

A spokesman for Smotrich confirmed the authenticity of the recording, which the newspaper said was provided by a researcher from Peace Now who attended the June 9 event. In the recording, Smotrich described at length how he planned to transfer authority from the military to civilians under his authority in the Defense Ministry, where he was handed broad powers as demanded in his Religious Zionism party’s coalition deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

The conference was attended by settlement leaders as well as Minister of National Missions of Israel, Orit Strook. Both Smotrich and Strook’s offices fund about 63 unapproved settlements in the hopes of getting approval for their establishment. These settlements will pose a challenge to the establishment of a Palestinian state. In the recording, Smotrich confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aware of the details of the plan, much of which was part of the coalition agreement allowing the prime minister to remain in power. “Netanyahu is with us all the way,” the Finance Minister boasted in his speech.

In April, Smotrich called on Netanyahu to annex the West Bank if the Palestinian Authority continues with its efforts for international recognition of a state and for what he said was its bid to obtain international arrest warrants against Israelis over the war in Gaza against Hamas.

Friday’s report on the recording came after the newspaper last month revelated an internal document in which the outgoing head of the Israel Defense Forces’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, accused Smotrich of completely undermining Israeli law enforcement efforts to clamp down on illegal Israeli construction in the West Bank. Enforcement on illegal construction has dwindled “to the point where it has disappeared,” Fox wrote, highlighting the role of Smotrich. He also said Smotrich and his allies were blocking measures the government had promised Israeli courts it would implement, to crack down on illegal construction in the West Bank.

Peace Now on the annexation agenda of the Israeli government:

https://peacenow.org.il/en/the-annexation-agenda-of-the-israeli-government