Israeli minister defends ‘migration’ of Palestinians from the West Bank

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Amir Cohen/Reuters The Israeli Finance Minister, the ultra-rightist Bezalel Smotrich, stated that he is in favor of “stimulating the migration” of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli press reported. “We will eliminate the idea of ​​a terrorist Arab state,” Smotrich said at an event organized by his party, Religious Zionism, on Tuesday night (17). “We will formally and in practical terms annul the damned Oslo Accords and embark on the path towards sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the usual words in Israel to refer to the West Bank. “There is no other long-term solution,” added Smotrich, who lives in a settlement in the West Bank. Last week, the Israeli government approved a plan to facilitate its control over lands administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in force since the 1990s. READ ALSO: Israel will expand control in the West Bank and facilitate the purchase of land by settlers, say vehicles See the videos that are trending on g1 The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as “state property” and facilitate the direct purchase of land by Jewish Israelis. The plan generated a wave of international outrage. On Tuesday, missions from 85 countries at the UN condemned the measures that, according to critics, amount to a de facto annexation of Palestinian territory. “We strongly condemn Israel’s unilateral decisions and measures aimed at expanding its illegal presence in the West Bank,” they said in a statement. “These decisions contradict Israel’s obligations based on international law and must be reversed immediately. (…) We highlight our firm opposition to any form of annexation,” the text adds. UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday (16) called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, which he called “destabilizing” and “illegal”. The West Bank would make up the bulk of any future Palestinian state, but many on Israel’s religious right consider it Israeli land. The current Israeli government has accelerated settlement expansion, approving a record number of 52 new settlements in 2025. Excluding East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which under international law are illegal.

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