{"id":301252,"date":"2025-08-18T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=301252"},"modified":"2025-08-16T11:46:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:46:03","slug":"israeli-finance-minister-bezalel-smotrich-announces-major-west-bank-settlement-expansion-to-bury-the-idea-of-a-palestinian-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/08\/israeli-finance-minister-bezalel-smotrich-announces-major-west-bank-settlement-expansion-to-bury-the-idea-of-a-palestinian-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich Announces Major West Bank Settlement Expansion to \u2018Bury the Idea of a Palestinian State\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

An Israeli soldier photographs a Palestinian man using an AI facial recognition tool during a raid in Wadi Qutyna, Al-Mughayer, occupied West Bank, 17 Jan 2025.\u00a0 (Avishay Mohar\/Activestills)<\/p><\/div>\n

The planned construction appears to be a response to Western countries saying they will recognize a Palestinian state.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

14 Aug 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0The Israeli government is moving forward with a plan for the massive expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that would cut off the northern part of the Palestinian territory<\/a> from its southern regions, a plan Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said will \u201cbury the idea of a Palestinian state.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Smotrich, who also holds a position in the Defense Ministry that allows him to expand settlements, announced that he plans to approve the construction of 3,401 housing units for the controversial E1 settlement project, which has been frozen for decades due to international opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will talk about a Palestinian dream, and we will continue to build a Jewish reality,\u201d Smotrich said at a press conference at the site of the planned construction. \u201cThis reality is what will permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and a woman hold a map that shows the long-frozen E1 settlement scheme, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, on the day of a press conference near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 14 Aug 2025. REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an earlier statement, Smotrich said<\/a>, \u201cAfter decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma\u2019ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best \u2013 building, settling, and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement appears to be Smotrich\u2019s response to several Western countries, including the UK, France, Canada, and Australia, announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state by September if certain conditions are met.<\/p>\n

The Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said<\/a> the Israeli government\u2019s Higher Planning Council is set to hold a hearing next Wednesday, August 20, for the final approval of the settlement construction. The group said the hearing was scheduled at \u201crecord speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed,\u201d Peace Now said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the terrible war in Gaza \u2014 the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel \u2014 and it will ultimately come. The government\u2019s annexation moves are taking us further away from this solution and guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n

The news was also strongly condemned by Palestinian officials<\/a>. The presidency of the Palestinian National Council said the settlement expansion was a \u201csystemic plan to steal land, Judaize it, and impose biblical and Talmudic facts on the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of<\/em> antiwar.com.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – news.antiwar.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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