JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right finance minister said on Wednesday that maps were being drawn up for annexing territory in the occupied West Bank, land the Palestinians seek for a state, although it was unclear if he had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support.
At a press conference in Jerusalem, Bezalel Smotrich stood before a map that suggested the possible annexation of most of the West Bank with the exception of six large Palestinian cities, including Ramallah and Nablus.
Smotrich said he wanted “maximum territory and minimum (Palestinian) population” to be brought under Israeli sovereignty, urging Netanyahu to accept his plan that is being drawn up by a department under Smotrich’s supervision in the Defense Ministry.
“The time has come to apply Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, to remove once and for all from the agenda the idea of dividing our tiny land and establishing a terror state in its center,” he said, using biblical names widely used in Israel and the administrative name used by the state to describe the area.
“Who can defend a state with such small strategic depth? And this is why the goal of the sovereignty is to remove, once and for all, a Palestinian state from the agenda. And this is done when applying (sovereignty) to all of the territory, other than Arab population centers. I have no interest in letting them enjoy what the state of Israel has to offer,” he said.
