Donald Trump's victory in the American elections constitutes a “important occasion” to colonize the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, loudly proclaimed this Monday, November 11, Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister also responsible for civil management in the West Bank, and therefore the colonies.
During a speech in Parliament, the far-right minister stressed that the return of Trump (whose official inauguration will take place in January 2025) to power would indeed be an opportunity to expand “Israeli sovereignty over the settlements of Judea and Samaria”, biblical term used by ultraorthodox or supremacist Israelis to designate the West Bank.
“We were one step away from applying sovereignty to the colonies of Judea and Samaria, and now is the time to do so,” added Smotrich, himself a settler. “The year 2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” he promised again.
The Palestinian State, a “danger”
Aside from East Jerusalem, also under occupation since 1967, nearly 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, in settlements that the United Nations considers illegal under international law, among 3 million Palestinians (3.3 million including Jerusalem). -East).
“Enforcement of sovereignty” is a phrase interpreted by the press as the probable annexation of Israeli settlements and the extension of Israeli civil law to their residents. Since the conquest of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, the entire territory has remained under military rather than civilian control.
Qualifying as “danger” existential for the Jewish state the creation of a Palestinian state, Smotrich asserted that the only way to“eliminate” is to annex the approximately 250 settlements that have spread across the Palestinian territory. And added:
“I have no doubt that President Trump, who has demonstrated courage and determination in his decisions during his first term, will support the State of Israel in this endeavor.”
And to conclude in a triumphant tone: “The new Nazis [terme souvent utilisé par Smotrich pour désigner les Palestiniens] must pay a price on the territory [en raison des attaques du 7 octobre 2023] which will be taken from them forever, both in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria.”
