Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday (November 11, 2024) announced that 2025 would be the year when Israel will annex the occupied West Bank. The declaration came on a day when Saudi capital Riyadh under the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman hosted the leaders of various Arab and Muslim countries who condemned the Israeli actions in Lebanon and Gaza Strip.
Mr. Smotrich’s announcement is not yet supported by a resolution of the Israeli government but gives a hint of the thinking in the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where Mr. Smotrich plays a supervisory role for the controversial expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian areas.
On Monday, in a parliamentary meeting of his Religious Zionist Party which is a partner of PM Netanyahu’s government, Mr. Smotrich asked the Israeli government “to begin the professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure,” to annex the West Bank which Israelis call as Judea and Samaria.
The remarks added to the backdrop in which Saudi Arabia held the extraordinary summit of the Arab and Islamic leaders in Riyadh. Addressing the meeting Prince Mohammed Bin Salman demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in the war in Gaza and called for an end to “massacres committed against the Palestinians and the Lebanese people.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for suspension of Israel from the UN and said Israel is committing “mass genocide”.
Palestinian Presidential spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the remarks made by Bezalel Smotrich, about imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank confirm the Israeli government’s “intention” to go ahead with taking control of the West Bank by 2025.
The summit was attended by Egypt’s President El Sisi, Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif among others. Iran which is in a military rivalry with Israel did not send President Pezeshkian who cited “executive matters” while skipping the summit in Riyadh. The United Arab Emirates was represented at the summit by Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE who led a delegation to Riyadh.
The UAE which has diplomatic ties with Israel is in a unique position as it was the third Arab country — after Egypt and Jordan — to establish diplomatic relations with Israel during the first tenure of President Donald Trump in 2020. The relation has been considerably downplayed since Israel launched the war in Gaza but despite that the Emirates is one of the few places in the region where Israeli media including its pro-war channels are freely allowed to be aired providing the viewers with a window to the plans that the Israeli government is making for the West Bank, Gaza and the Lebanese territories.
It is understood that any action on West Bank will have further regional implications as the region, which is the base of the Palestinian Authority, includes embassies and representations from many countries – including India – that recognise the statehood of Palestine forcing a new political and diplomatic reality. But the remarks of Mr. Smotrich have contributed to the regional discussion as the transition in Washington D.C. is being keenly watched here.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, said that annexation of West Bank was discussed last time during the first Presidency of President Trump. “The last time we discussed this issue was in the first term of President Trump,” he said. “And so let’s say that if it will be relevant, it will be discussed again also with our friends in Washington,” he was quoted by Reuters.
Published – November 12, 2024 11:25 am IST
