Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Wednesday for the annexation of swathes of the occupied West Bank after a series of governments signaled their intention to recognize a Palestinian state.
Belgium on Tuesday became the latest Western country to say it will recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this month, following similar announcements by Australia, Canada and France.
“The time has come to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using the name Israel applies to the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.
He said the move would “take the idea of dividing our tiny land and establishing a terrorist state at its center off the agenda once and for all.”
The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over Palestinian urban areas in the West Bank, swiftly condemned the Israeli minister’s annexation call.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said it “condemns in the strongest terms the statements and positions made by the extremist minister Smotrich, particularly with regard to his inflammatory calls to deepen settlement activity and annex the occupied West Bank.”
Smotrich called for Israeli annexation of “all open areas” of the territory, saying “the supreme principle of applying sovereignty… is the slogan: maximum land with minimum (Palestinian) population.”
He added that the settlements administration within the defense ministry had in recent months drawn up maps which would apply Israeli sovereignty to approximately 82 percent of the West Bank.
France is leading a push to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this month and revive a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
Smotrich described the upcoming meeting in New York as an attempt by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority “to harm the State of Israel.”
“The application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is a preventive step against the political attack planned against us and against the attempts to endanger our existence and the future of our children,” he said.
