Trump’s election victory in the United States horrifies and delights. Some people seem to enjoy themselves extra. – The year 2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday, Reuters reported. “Judea and Samaria” is better known as the Palestinian West Bank. The term is often used by people on the Israeli right. That includes the finance minister, who himself lives in the settlement of Kedumim in the north of the West Bank. Israeli settlers Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the Palestinian West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Around 230,000 live in East Jerusalem. The rest live in the approximately 300 towns, villages and outposts scattered throughout the territory. The number of settlers shot up after Israel occupied the West Bank after the Six-Day War in 1967. Some are ideologically and religiously motivated. They believe that the Jews have a right to the Palestinian territories. Other settlers are more secular and live there because it brings economic benefits. In 2016, the UN Security Council decided that the settlements are in violation of international law. On 19 July, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Israeli settlers are operating illegally in the West Bank and must leave the area. Sources: Great Norwegian encyclopedia Smotrich hopes that Israel, with Donald Trump’s support, can now officially make the parts of the West Bank with Israeli settlements Israeli territory. It has, among other things, been mentioned by The Times of Israel. Israel was on the verge of doing this last time Trump was president, according to Smotrich: – Now is the time to do it, he emphasized, adding that the preparations have started. Young people in the Palestinian village of Kafr Qaddum regularly clash with Israeli soldiers. In the background can be seen the illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim, where Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lives. Photo: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP Isolating the population The West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation for almost 60 years. In that time they have established around 150 settlements. They are in violation of the People’s Law. Annexation is generally popular on the right in Israeli politics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has several times run for office on precisely this. This is pointed out by Middle East researcher Jørgen Jensehaugen at Prio. Large parts of the West Bank are already under Israeli control: The pink fields show areas that were fully or partially under Palestinian control before the Gaza war last year. Photo: news / MAP DATA FROM OPENSTREETMAP GRAPHICS: EIRIK KIRKAUNE The pink fields show areas that were fully or partially under Palestinian control before the Gaza war last year. Photo: news / MAP DATA FROM OPENSTREETMAP GRAPHICS: EIRIK KIRKAUNE Partial incorporation also means that Israel does not have to grant rights to the approximately 3 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank. – You take in the areas where Palestinians do not live, and isolate the areas where Palestinians live, says Jensehaugen, who adds that the Palestinian areas in this plan will have limited autonomy. Jørgen Jensehaugen believes that Israel has previously had good reasons not to annex. But things may be changing. Photo: Amanda Iversen Orlich / n653186 – But it is a fiction. Because it is self-government without a state or independent territory, he emphasizes. Despite the fact that annexation is popular on the right in Israeli politics, it has so far not happened. There could be several reasons for that, says Jensehaugen. It is not certain that it only has to do with the United States. A “shell hideout” The situation, as it is today, gives Israel several advantages, according to Jensehaugen. They practically control the West Bank. But the world still sees it as a temporary military occupation. – If you annex, you remove this shell cover, he says. A Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers in a military vehicle in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem on October 31. Nur Shams was established in the early 1950s. Photo: ZAIN JAAFAR / AFP But two things may indicate that the danger of official incorporation has increased: The International Court of Justice ruled that the occupation is illegal. The consequences of an illegal annexation are thus lower now than before. There are several representatives from the far right in Israel’s government. In addition, Donald Trump returns to the White House. – That makes this more likely now than before, says Jensehaugen. But there may also be other reasons not to attach too much importance to the finance minister’s plans. A poster celebrates Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. The picture was taken in Jerusalem on 8 November. Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP – A desperate attempt Bezalel Smotrich leads the Religious Zionism party. – They are completely invested in expanding the settlements on the West Bank, writes Ami Pedazour in a message to news. Pedazour heads the Institute for Strategic Research at Haifa University in Israel. He does not necessarily believe that the proposal for incorporation is really that serious. Construction workers work to erect new buildings in the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, not far from Jerusalem, on February 29. Photo: MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP According to Pedazour, Smotrich has lost support among his followers. Many are upset that ultra-Orthodox men are exempt from military service. – This is a desperate attempt to survive politically, says Pedazour. He believes Smotrich is trying to distance himself from Netanyahu and his party, Likud. And like Jensehaugen, Pedazour believes that Israel has a lot to gain from preserving the situation as it is today: – The West Bank, excluding the Palestinian cities and large villages, has gradually become part of Israel, he says. – A formal annexation will probably lead to international condemnation, repel the Trump administration and will not help the settlers. Interested in abroad? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast: Published 11.11.2024, at 22.15
ttn-69
Israeli minister believes Israel must incorporate the West Bank next year – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
