The decision was announced by the Minister of Finance, but there is no official confirmation from Netanyahu or the Executive. In exchange, the release of Palestinian funds frozen after the Hamas attack on October 7 was arranged. Enthusiasm of the pro-settler and pro-occupation movements. Peace Now: It is a reward for criminals at the critical point of the war.
Jerusalem () – The Israeli government has approved the legalisation of five outposts in the West Bank and a series of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. The decision was announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the far right and a staunch supporter of the Jewish state’s expansionist policy in the Territories. In reality, there have been no official statements so far from the government or from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a news item that seems destined to fuel tension between the parties, in the shadow of the conflict in Gaza.
In return – informs Haaretz – Smotrich will sign the release of withheld Palestinian Authority tax funds and allow Israeli banks to work with their Palestinian counterparts, although these latter decisions are not included in the minister’s statements. The far-right leader reported that the decision is a consequence of the Palestinian leaders’ representations to international justice bodies and the United Nations, which has resulted in an arrest warrant (pending) against the country’s leaders and pressure for state recognition. The outposts that have been legalized – the installation of new settlements that until now were considered “illegal” according to Israeli regulations – are Evyatar in the north of the West Bank, Sde Ephraim and Givat Asaf in the center of the West Bank, and Heletz and Adorayim in the south.
The government also reportedly approved the publication of tenders for thousands of new houses in the settlements. Some of the measures that Smotrich wants to take against the Palestinian Authority are the cancellation of various benefits for officials; the cancellation of exit visas for officials and restrictions on their movements; the transfer of control responsibilities from the Palestinian Authority to Israel in a nature reserve in the Judean Desert where, according to right-wing groups – including one founded by the minister – rampant Palestinian construction activity affecting heritage has occurred cultural and environmental.
The reaction of the United States remains to be seen, as it has so far refused to legitimise many of Smotrich’s decisions regarding the Palestinians and has decided to adopt a basic line of boycott, refusing to meet with him or his far-right colleague Itamar Ben Gvir. Washington fears that the collapse of the Palestinian Authority could lead to chaos in the West Bank, which would be exploited by Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells to open a new war front.
The decision to legalise the outposts in the West Bank has been met with enthusiastic approval from far-right movements and pro-occupation leaders. Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said it was a “Zionist decision and a strong message of victory”. “The new settlement will complete a succession of already existing entities in the region,” added Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, speaks of a measure “that strengthens the State of Israel”. Criticism, on the other hand, comes from activist movements, including Peace Now, according to which this decision is “madness” that negatively affects Israel’s relations with the United States. “Instead of caring about the unprotected inhabitants of the South and the North, the settler government is giving a prize to criminals at the height of the war to satisfy Smotrich, who is collapsing in the polls,” the group commented. “This is an illegitimate government,” Peace Now concludes, “which lost the trust of the people a long time ago and is controlled by a messianic and extremist minority that must leave our lives.”
Settlements and outposts are communities inhabited by Israeli civilians and military personnel that were built in the territories conquered after the June 1967 Six-Day War in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Gaza. In 1982 Israel withdrew from the settlements in the Sinai after signing a peace agreement (1979) with Egypt, and in 2005 former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the dismantling of 17 colonies in the Strip. In November 2019, former President Donald Trump tore up decades of American diplomacy and declared them “not contrary to international law,” opening a new page of tension with the Palestinian front. The current head of the White House, Joe Biden, has said that he wants to return to the pre-Trump situation and that he opposes the expansion of settlements, although he maintains at the same time the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In reality, little has been done as the Jewish State continues its expansion policy, which has seen a new acceleration after the October 7 attack and the war in Gaza against Hamas.
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