By Dana Karni, Mick Krever, Abeer Salman and Kareem Khadder,
This is the MAIN REASON for Israeli actions since 7 October and was planned for many many years – Mark
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Smotrich, who is in charge of the settlements, said on Monday that he had instructed his department to “prepare the necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty.”
It is unclear whether his long-standing desire to apply full Israeli law in West Bank settlements has any chance of being implemented soon.
The Prime Minister’s Office is yet to comment on Smotrich’s order. However, earlier Monday, Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s new foreign minister, told a press briefing that the government had made no decision on the issue of annexation as yet, but noted it had been discussed during Donald Trump’s first term as US president and added that “if it will be relevant it will be discussed again with our friends in Washington.”
Observers said Smotrich’s announcement was likely motivated in large part by staking out political ground in Israel’s fractious domestic politics.
Still, it drew swift condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, whose foreign affairs ministry characterized such comments as “a blatantly colonial and racist extension of the ongoing campaign of extermination and forced displacement against the Palestinian people.”
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edition.cnn.com/2024/11/11/middleeast/israeli-minister-annexation-occupied-west-bank-intl/index.html
