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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Smotrich's covert plan for quiet West Bank takeover leaked: NYT</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Mayadeen English</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">June 22, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>The
Israeli Finance Minister intends to shift authority in the West Bank
from the Israeli military to pro-settler officials within the Security
Ministry to avoid international scrutiny.</p><img src="cid:ii_lxq7ngoz0" alt="16e3bc36-846e-49c4-af05-fb0d0980beff.jpeg" width="408" height="272"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
Illustrative: Palestinian villagers inspect the damage after
Israeli settlers rampaged through the West Bank village of Duma in
April, torching homes and vehicles. <em>(AFP)</em>
</li></div></ul>
<p>The far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was reportedly recorded telling <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/clad-in-shepherds--attire--armed-israeli-settlers-usurp-west" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supporters of the settler movement</a>
that the government is involved in a covert effort to alter how
"Israel" administers the West Bank, as per a report on Friday citing a
recording of the minister of the Religious Zionist party.</p>
<p>The <em>New York Times</em> indicated that the recording was from an event earlier in the month where <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/smotrich-calls-for-settlers-to-enforce-mass-expulsion-of-gaz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smotrich</a>,
who also serves as a minister in the Security Ministry, told supporters
that the aim was preventing the West Bank from becoming part of a
Palestinian state.</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Smotrich confirmed the authenticity of the
recording, which the newspaper said was provided by a researcher from
the Peace Now anti-settlement group who attended the event on June 9.</p>
<h2>Smotrich to deceive international community on West Bank governance</h2>
<p>In the recording, Smotrich detailed his intentions to shift authority
from the Israeli military to pro-settler officials within the Security
Ministry, leveraging the extensive powers granted to him through his
Religious Zionism party's coalition agreement with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.</p>
<p>Smotrich stated, "We established a distinct civilian system," noting
that, to avoid international scrutiny, the government has permitted the
Security Ministry to maintain its involvement in the process, as
reported by the <em>Times</em>.</p>
<p>“It will be easier to swallow in the international and legal
context,” he went on to say. “So that they won’t say that we are doing
annexation here.”</p>
<p>Smotrich also revealed that Netanyahu was "full on" with the plan.</p>
<h2>IOF hand power over West Bank to pro-settler officials under Smotrich</h2>
<p>Israeli occupation forces discreetly <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-hand-power-over-west-bank-to-pro-settler-officials-under" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transferred substantial legal authority</a> in the occupied West Bank to Israeli extremist groups ganging up under the far-right Minister Bezalel Smotrich.</p>
<p>A directive published by the Israeli army on its website on May 29
shifts the responsibility for numerous bylaws within the so-called
"Civil Administration", the Israeli body governing the West Bank, from
the military to public employees working under Smotrich at the Security
Ministry.</p>
<p>Smotrich and his gangs have long viewed control over the "Civil
Administration", or at least significant portions of it, as a way to
extend Israeli sovereignty in the occupied West Bank. Their ultimate aim
is to achieve direct control by the central government and its
ministries. This transfer reduces the likelihood of legal restrictions
on settlement expansion and development.</p>
<p>Israeli politicians have long aimed to find methods to permanently
put their hand on the occupied West Bank, which they occupied in 1967
and where millions of Palestinians reside.</p>
<p>Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, said as quoted by
Times of Israel, “The bottom line is that [for] anyone who thought the
question of annexation was foggy, this order should end any doubts. What
this order does is transfers vast areas of administrative power from
the military commander to Israeli civilians working for the government.”</p>
<h3>Smotrich's latest coup</h3>
<p>The calamitous move marks the latest coup for Smotrich, who secured
roles as finance minister and a minister in the Security Ministry
following a coalition agreement between his far-right party and Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.</p>
<p>The "Civil Administration" primarily oversees planning and
construction in Area C of the West Bank, which comprises 60% of the
occupied Palestinian territories. Additionally, it enforces regulations
against "unauthorized construction", meaning that if a permit is not
issued by the Israeli army in Area C, the IOF would confiscate any
construction tools found and demolish any new structures built without
authorization.</p>
<p>Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank live in constant fear of
being expelled from their homes and lands by Israeli authorities. In the
first three months of 2023, Israeli forces have already forcibly
displaced 218 Palestinians through demolitions in Area C. This figure
represents more than one-third of the 594 Palestinians forcibly
displaced there throughout the entire year of 2022, according to United
Nations (UN) data.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that the occupied West Bank was divided into three
administrative sections under the 1993 Oslo Accords, with Area A
managed by the Palestinian Authority, Area B under alleged shared
sovereignty, and Area C – the largest area, accounting for around 60% of
the occupied Palestinian territories – under full Israeli
administrative and security control.</p>
<p>According to the accords, Area C, the only contiguous portion of the
occupied West Bank with the most fertile land and valuable natural
resources, was meant to be gradually transferred to Palestinian
sovereignty, but this has never occurred.</p>
<p>Instead, Area C is now occupied by over 400,000 settlers, who control 70% of the area and prohibit Palestinian development. </p>
<h3>Dive deeper</h3>
<p>The transfer of legal authority, which was hiding in plain sight in
"Israel", is the result of a prolonged effort by extremist politicians
to gain many of the legal powers previously held by the military.</p>
<p>These laws pertain to various areas, including building regulations,
agriculture, forestry, parks, and bathing locations. Legal experts have
long cautioned that shifting these powers from military to political
control could lead "Israel" to violate its international legal
obligations further.</p>
<p>Once in government, Smotrich swiftly approved thousands of new
settlement units, legalized previously unauthorized outposts, and made
it more challenging for Palestinians to build homes and travel freely.</p>
<p>Reports in Israeli media indicate that US officials have privately
considered imposing sanctions on Smotrich due to his destabilizing
actions in the West Bank, where he resides in a settlement deemed
illegal under international law.</p>
<p>Netanyahu has increasingly leaned on the support of Smotrich and
other extremist groups within his coalition government following the
departure of Benny Gantz from "Israel’s" emergency war cabinet amid
schisms over the strategy of war on Gaza and efforts to secure the
release of Israeli captives.</p>
<p>Smotrich has openly expressed his ambition to establish a stronger
presence in the Ministry of Security to advance his policy agenda,
dismissing the significance of this move as merely procedural.</p>
<p>In April, Smotrich appointed Hillel Roth, a longtime ideological
ally, as a deputy in the "Civil Administration", tasked with overseeing
building regulations in settlements and outposts.</p>
<p>Roth, who previously lived in Yitzhar, a West Bank settlement known
for its history of violence and extremism, has ties to Smotrich’s
Religious Zionist party through his involvement with Bnei Akiva.</p>
<p>According to Sfard, this transfer of authority signifies that legal
control in the West Bank now rests with a structure led by an Israeli
minister focused solely on advancing Israeli interests.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Sfard highlighted that while the head of the "Civil
Administration" traditionally reports to military command, Roth, as a
settler, now answers directly to Smotrich.</p>
<p>Sfard's perspective aligns with a legal analysis published by three
Israeli jurists last year, cautioning that shifting authority away from
the military could legally constitute annexation. They warned that
Smotrich prioritizes advancing the interests of Israeli settlers in the
West Bank over the well-being of the Palestinians.</p>
<p>Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst for Israel-Palestine at Crisis
Group, said as reported by The Guardian, “The big story is that this is
no longer ‘creeping annexation’ or ‘de facto annexation’, it is actual
annexation."</p>
<p>“This is the legalisation [and] normalization of a long-term policy.
Smotrich is basically re-establishing the way in which the occupation
works by taking a large part out of the hands of the military," he
stressed.</p>
<p>“Half the people he has brought in to the defense ministry are
from.... Regavim. The same people who worked at Regavim to disposes
Palestinians in Area C are now in government positions,” he concluded.</p>
<p>Israeli occupation forces have been conducting violent, daily raids in several West Bank cities since October 7, arresting and <a href="https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-forces-shoot-dead-one-palestinian-in-beit-lahm--west" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brutally killing Palestinians</a>, including children, in addition to bulldozing roads. </p>
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