Smotrich calls for expanding West Bank settlement policies to Israel’s north and south

Smotrich calls for expanding West Bank settlement policies to Israel’s north and south

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has promised to expand what he calls Israel’s “settlement revolution” in the occupied West Bank to the Galilee in northern Israel and the Negev in the south.

“It’s time to bring the revolution in Judea and Samaria to the Galilee and the Negev, in order to save the State of Israel from the next October 7,” Smotrich said on X. 

Smotrich also mentioned protests in the town where demonstrators chanted “Long live Palestine” and said the incidents showed the need for a greater change in the Galilee and Negev.

“There are forces there that see the State of Israel as an enemy that must be fought”, the minister wrote.

He has pushed plans to expand Jewish settlement in both areas, including new communities and agricultural farms, in areas where Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jewish Israelis live side-by-side.

Earlier this year, Smotrich said he was being pursued by the International Criminal Court, which he said had issued a warrant for his arrest.

The comments came after Israeli police said a 32-year-old man from Majd al-Krum was arrested on suspicion of contacting a Lebanese foreign agent.