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Israel’s finance minister said Monday that his department is preparing to “apply sovereignty” over the West Bank.
Speaking at a meeting of his far-right Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich said that “now the time has come to apply sovereignty over” the territory, and hailed Donald Trump’s reelection to the US presidency as creating “an important opportunity.” Smotrich suggested a move to annex the territory could come as soon as next year.
Smotrich, who is also responsible for Israel’s Civil Administration which oversees the country’s presence in the West Bank, said he had directed the Defense Ministry to prepare the infrastructure needed to make the move, The Jerusalem Post reported.
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Smotrich has long called for annexing the West Bank, a call that leaders of the Israeli settlements in the territory — as well as the Israeli national security minister, Ben Gvir, have echoed — also citing Trump’s incoming administration as a window of opportunity.
A majority of Jewish Israelis, however, oppose annexing the West Bank, according to a poll conducted earlier this year by Tel Aviv University, while 38% supported the idea.