June 24, 2024- As the
New York Times reports, Israeli Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich is well
on his way to achieving his goal: annexation of the West Bank. On May 29, the IDF’s website noted that enforcement
of several key laws governing the West Bank had been transferred from military to civilian authority, under
Smotrich’s direction in his other role as a senior official in the Defense Ministry. He has proposed four new West
Bank settlements and attempted to impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, all in retaliation for other
nations’ formal recognition of Palestine. APN’s sister organization in Israel, Peace Now, was responsible for
making a recording of Smotrich’s remarks available to the media.
Americans for Peace Now warns that annexation of the West Bank is no longer a settler pipe dream, but a
reality occurring while the world’s attention is focused on the war in Gaza. Transferring powers from the
military to civilian control amounts to legal annexation under international law, and makes a mockery of American
policy supporting a two-state solution. Smotrich makes no secret of his intentions to “change the system’s DNA” and
smash any possibility of Palestinian autonomy or statehood in the West Bank for once and for all.