Israeli
Settlement Expansion Plan Will ‘Bury’ Palestinian Statehood, Minister Vows
Bezalel
Smotrich, the finance minister, said on Thursday that a plan to significantly
expand a settlement near occupied East Jerusalem had won approval. But a
procedural step remained.
Ephrat
Livni
By Ephrat
Livni
Aug. 14,
2025
Israel’s
far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Thursday that a plan to
significantly expand a settlement near occupied East Jerusalem had won
approval, and that it would thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Mr.
Smotrich said about 3,400 new housing units would be built in key
Israeli-occupied territory. But the announcement does not mean the plan will
necessarily gain final approval — a procedural step remains.
The
government body that approves such plans, the Supreme Planning Council,
generally publishes information about its decisions within days or weeks after
a meeting, but does not tend to issue statements. It did not make one on
Thursday about Mr. Smotrich’s statement.
The
announcement comes after Australia, Britain, Canada, France and other nations
pledged to soon recognize Palestinian statehood amid a humanitarian crisis in
Gaza. Those countries say that recognition is part of an effort to restart
negotiations over a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This
plan buries the idea of a Palestinian state,” Mr. Smotrich said on Thursday,
addressing a gathering of journalists and settlement leaders in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. “Anyone in the world today who
tries to recognize a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the
ground. Not in documents, not in decisions or declarations — but in facts.”
Israel’s
foreign minister, Gideon Saar, in an interview on Wednesday with Newsmax, also
dismissed any recognition of Palestinian statehood and the prospects of a
two-state solution, saying Israel had already tried that route. “In the
international community it’s become a slogan, two-state solution,” he said.
“Who said it’s the solution? It’s probably the problem. I say it’s the
two-state illusion.”
Want to
stay updated on what’s happening in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip?
Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we’ll send our latest coverage to
your inbox.
Mr.
Smotrich’s settlement announcement drew swift international reaction.
Jordan’s
Foreign Ministry, which in a statement on Thursday “condemned in the strongest
terms” both the proposed expansion and Mr. Smotrich’s comments, called them
“extremist racist statements” and “a flagrant violation of international law.”
The
ministry called the move “an assault on the inalienable right of the
Palestinian people to establish their independent, sovereign state on the lines
of June 4, 1967, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital.”
Peace
Now, an Israel organization that tracks and opposes settlement expansion, noted
that a subcommittee of the Israeli council that handles settlement planning had
rejected all objections to the proposal at a meeting earlier this month. A
final approval hearing was set for next week, “in record speed,” the group
said.
If the
planning council gives its final approval, work on roads, water, sewage,
electricity and other infrastructure could begin within months, and housing
construction could start within about a year, Peace Now estimated.
Hagit
Ofran, who is part of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch project, noted that it was
unlikely that Mr. Smotrich had announced “such a dramatic decision” without
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s consent. In the past, she said, Mr.
Netanyahu has blocked meetings on settlement approvals — like the one set for
next week — after coming under pressure from foreign governments.
Mr.
Netanyahu has not spoken publicly about the latest proposal, and his office did
not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Mr. Smotrich also
did not respond to a request for comment.
Much of
the international community views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegally
occupied by Israel and intended for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian
state through negotiations. The International Court of Justice last year issued
an advisory opinion finding that the settlements were illegal and calling for
Israel’s withdrawal.
The
settlement expansion project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, an existing
settlement in the West Bank, is especially controversial because it would
separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank, geographically complicating the
establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Israel
captured the occupied territories in a war with Arab states in 1967, and over
the years, Israeli governments have increasingly allowed the establishment of
Jewish settlements in those areas.
About
three million Palestinians and 700,000 Jewish Israelis now live in those lands.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 set off the war in Gaza,
violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians has markedly increased.
In a
statement on social media, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to
the minister’s announcement, on Thursday called on the international community
to compel Israel to halt the plans.
The
chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh told Wafa, the
Palestinian government’s official media arm, that Israel’s approval of the
settlement plan “falls within the framework of a de facto creeping annexation
policy” and “aligns with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vision of ‘Greater
Israel.’”
The
European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, said in
a statement on Thursday that the latest plan “further undermines the two-state
solution while being a breach of international law,” and she called on Israel
to “halt" the move and settlement construction more broadly.
A senior
State Department official, responding to a request for comment on Mr.
Smotrich’s announcement, said “a stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in
line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region.”
Johnatan
Reiss and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.
Ephrat
Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based
in Washington.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário