Israeli
far-right minister speaks of effort to annex West Bank
Bezalel
Smotrich says he aims to establish sovereignty over occupied territory and
thwart a Palestinian state
Peter
Beaumont in Jerusalem
Mon 24 Jun
2024 16.17 BST
Israel’s
far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has described in explicit terms
his active effort to annex the West Bank to Israel, days after the Guardian
revealed how the pro-settlement politician and his allies had quietly gained
significant new legal powers to that end.
Speaking at
a meeting of his Religious Zionism party, Smotrich told colleagues that he was
“establish[ing] facts on the ground in order to make Judea and Samaria [an
Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] an integral part of the state of
Israel”.
“We will
establish sovereignty … first on the ground and then through legislation. I
intend to legalise the young settlements [illegal outposts],” Smotrich said in
comments reported by Haaretz. “My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment
of a Palestinian state.”
Annexation
and the acquisition of territory by military conquest is forbidden as one of
the founding principles of international law including the UN charter.
The comments
by Smotrich echoed recorded remarks he made at a gathering of supporters in the
West Bank, first disclosed by the New York Times, in which he appeared to refer
to the administrative changes as “mega-dramatic”. He was quoted as saying:
“Such changes change a system’s DNA.”
Speaking
about his acquisition of new legal powers, he said “[we] created a separate
civilian system,” adding that to avoid international criticism the government
had kept the defence ministry involved in the process, making it seem as if the
military was still the main player in governing the West Bank.
“It will be
easier to swallow in the international and legal context,” he said.
As well as
serving as finance minister, Smotrich serves as a minister at Israel’s defence
ministry, including with responsibility for the Civil Administration, which
oversees Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
As the
Guardian revealed last week, the Israeli military recently quietly handed over
significant legal powers in the occupied West Bank to pro-settler civil
servants working for Smotrich.
An order
posted by the Israel Defense Forces on its website on 29 May transferred
responsibility for dozens of bylaws at the Civil Administration from the
military to officials led by Smotrich at the defence ministry.
Smotrich and
his allies have long seen control of the Civil Administration, or significant
parts of it, as a means of extending Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
Their ultimate goal is direct control by central government and its ministries.
The transfer reduces the likelihood of legal checks on settlement expansion and
development.
Israeli
politicians have long sought to find ways to permanently seize, or annex, the
occupied West Bank, which it captured in 1967 and where millions of
Palestinians live.
Speaking
after the transfer of powers was disclosed, Michael Sfard, an Israeli human
rights lawyer, said: “The bottom line is that [for] anyone who thought the
question of annexation was foggy, this order should end any doubts.”
It is the
latest coup for Smotrich, who became finance minister and a minister in the
defence ministry after a coalition agreement between his far-right political
party and the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The Civil
Administration is principally responsible for planning and construction in area
C of the West Bank – the 60% of the occupied Palestinian territories under full
Israeli administrative and security control – as well as enforcement against
unauthorised construction, whether by Israeli settlers or by Palestinians.
The transfer
of laws, which was largely unremarked upon in Israel, follows a years-long
campaign by pro-settlement politicians to accrue many of the legal powers
previously wielded by the military chain of command.
The laws
cover everything from building regulations to the administration of
agriculture, forestry, parks and bathing locations. Lawyers have long warned
that transferring them from military to political control would risk bringing
Israel into conflict with its responsibilities under international law.
After
entering government, Smotrich moved quickly to approve thousands of new
settlement homes, “legalise” previously unauthorised wildcat outposts, and make
it more difficult for Palestinians to build homes and move around.
Reports in
the Israeli media say US officials have privately discussed the possibility of
imposing sanctions on Smotrich over his destabilising impact on the West Bank,
where he lives in a settlement that is illegal under international law.
Netanyahu
has become more reliant on the support of Smotrich and other far-right elements
of his coalition government since the former defence minister Benny Gantz quit
Israel’s emergency war cabinet in a row over strategy in the Gaza war and how
to bring home Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário