{"id":78187,"date":"2024-06-21T15:48:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T15:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/israeli-official-describes-secret-government-bid-to-cement-control-of-west-bank\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T15:48:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T15:48:07","slug":"israeli-official-describes-secret-government-bid-to-cement-control-of-west-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/israeli-official-describes-secret-government-bid-to-cement-control-of-west-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/20westbank-leak-1-zqbw\/20westbank-leak-1-zqbw-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank\" title=\"Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Bank\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">An influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s coalition told settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that the government is engaged in a stealthy effort to irreversibly change the way the territory is governed, to cement Israel\u2019s control over it without being accused of formally annexing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a taped recording of the speech, the official, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/31\/world\/middleeast\/israel-smotrich-protests.html\" title=\"\">Bezalel Smotrich<\/a>, can be heard suggesting at a private event earlier this month that the goal was to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m telling you, it\u2019s mega-dramatic,\u201d Mr. Smotrich told the settlers. \u201cSuch changes change a system\u2019s DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While Mr. Smotrich\u2019s opposition to ceding control over the West Bank is no secret, the Israeli government\u2019s official position is that the West Bank\u2019s status remains open to negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Israel\u2019s Supreme Court has ruled that Israel\u2019s rule over the territory amounts to a temporary military occupation overseen by army generals, not a permanent civilian annexation administered by Israeli civil servants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich\u2019s June 9 speech at a West Bank gathering may make that posture harder to maintain. In it, he outlined <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/israel-war-gaza-hamas\/west-bank-settlers-israel?smid=url-share\" title=\"\">a carefully orchestrated program<\/a> to take authority over the West Bank out of the hands of the Israeli military and turn it over to civilians working for Mr. Smotrich in the defense ministry. Parts of the plan have already been <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/israel-gaza-war-hamas\" title=\"\">incrementally<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/29\/world\/middleeast\/israel-west-bank-settlements-expansion.html\" title=\"\">introduced<\/a> over the past 18 months, and some authorities have already been transferred to civilians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe created a separate civilian system,\u201d Mr. Smotrich said. To deflect international scrutiny, the government has allowed the defense ministry to remain involved in the process, he said, so that it seems that the military is still at the heart of West Bank governance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt will be easier to swallow in the international and legal context,\u201d Mr. Smotrich said. \u201cSo that they won\u2019t say that we are doing annexation here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Reporters for The New York Times listened to a roughly half-hour recording of the speech that was provided by one of the attendees, a researcher from Peace Now, an anti-occupation campaign group. The researcher shared a recording of the entire speech. A spokesman for Mr. Smotrich, Eytan Fold, confirmed he gave the speech and said the event was not a secret.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich, a far-right lawmaker, said Mr. Netanyahu was aware of the details of the plan, much of which was foreshadowed in a coalition agreement between their parties that allows the prime minister to remain in power. Mr. Netanyahu is \u201cwith us full on,\u201d Mr. Smotrich said in the speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the government collapses, a future coalition could reverse the changes, but government moves in the West Bank have, in the past, usually remained in place through successive administrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For many Palestinians, the speech itself is likely to be greeted with less surprise than the fact that Mr. Smotrich said the words aloud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to hear Smotrich in his own voice confirm much of what we suspected about his agenda,\u201d said Ibrahim Dalalsha, director of the Horizon Center, a political analysis group in Ramallah, West Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, Mr. Dalalsha said, the approach is not new.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Palestinians have said for years that Israeli leaders are trying to annex the West Bank in all but name, building settlements in strategic locations in a bid to prevent contiguous Palestinian control across the territory. \u201cIt\u2019s been going on since 1967,\u201d said Mr. Dalalsha. \u201cSince way before Smotrich came to the scene,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel seized control of the territory from Jordan in 1967 during a war with three Arab states. Since occupying it, Israel has settled more than 500,000 Israeli civilians, who are subject to Israeli civil law, alongside the territory\u2019s roughly three million Palestinians, who are subject to Israeli military law. Roughly 40 percent of the territory is administered by the Palestinian Authority, a semiautonomous Palestinian-run body that relies on the Israel\u2019s cooperation for much of its funding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For decades, Israel\u2019s Supreme Court has described Israel\u2019s rule over the territory as a military occupation, overseen by a senior general, that complies with the international laws that apply to occupied territories. The current ruling coalition disputes the term \u201coccupation,\u201d but it also publicly denies the West Bank has been permanently annexed and placed under the sovereign control of Israel\u2019s civilian authorities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe final status of these territories will be determined by the parties in direct negotiations,\u201d the prime minister\u2019s office said in a statement in response to Mr. Smotrich\u2019s speech. \u201cThis policy has not changed,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich\u2019s speech suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In particular, he pointed to one change under which military officers no longer oversee most of the process by which Israeli settlements are expanded, land is expropriated and roads are built in the West Bank. Those roles are now overseen by \u201ca civilian working under the defense ministry\u201d who does not work for military commanders, he said, but in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/israel-war-gaza-hamas\/west-bank-settlers-israel?smid=url-share\" title=\"\">a new directorate that Mr. Smotrich supervises<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even as international pressure grows to declare a Palestinian state that would encompass the West Bank and Gaza, Mr. Smotrich\u2019s comments suggest that Israel is quietly working to firm up its control over the West Bank and make it harder to disentangle from Israeli control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Diplomats have been trying to reach a \u201cgrand deal\u201d for the Middle East that would both end the Israeli war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and improve Israel\u2019s ties with other nations in the region. Saudi Arabia, for one, says it will recognize Israel \u2014 but only if Israel in turn permits Palestinian statehood. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich\u2019s speech suggests just how distant that prospect may be as he moves to merge governance of the occupied West Bank with governance of the state of Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich\u2019s speech \u201cfundamentally undermines the longstanding argument of the state of Israel that the settlements are legal because they are temporary,\u201d said Talia Sasson, a former senior official in Israel\u2019s justice ministry who led <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/03\/08\/international\/middleeast\/report-shows-israeli-support-for-west-bank.html\" title=\"\">an influential government inquiry<\/a> in 2005 into the government\u2019s support for illegal settlements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The speech made clear just how powerful Israel\u2019s once-marginal settler movement has become.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich is a longtime settler activist who once worked outside the Israeli establishment to build settlement encampments that are considered illegal even under Israeli law. As a religious hard-liner, he believes the West Bank \u2014 which Israelis refer to by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria \u2014 was given to Jews by God.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a lawmaker over the past decade, Mr. Smotrich attracted attention for regularly making extremist comments, including his call to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/31\/world\/middleeast\/israel-smotrich-protests.html\" title=\"\">destroy a Palestinian town<\/a>; his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bezalelsm\/status\/717257411258671104?s=20&amp;t=2Z7L-RoGNOuwePkB1wXGrg\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">support<\/a> for segregation between Arabs and Jews in maternity wards; and his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/m.knesset.gov.il\/News\/PressReleases\/pages\/press150715-by.aspx\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">backing<\/a> for Jewish landowners who will not sell property to Arabs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since late 2022, Mr. Smotrich has gained extraordinary influence over government policy. That is when his party joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, helping it secure a small majority in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich used that leverage to persuade Mr. Netanyahu to assign him both the position in the defense ministry as well as the finance ministry, a role that Mr. Smotrich has used to block funds for the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy goal \u2014 and I think of everyone here \u2014 is to first and foremost prevent the establishment of a terror state in the very heart of the land of Israel,\u201d Mr. Smotrich said in the recorded speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Smotrich said his main achievement has been to place many of the military\u2019s duties in the West Bank under civilian control. While the army has often turned a blind eye to settlement expansion and even guards unauthorized settlements from Palestinian attack, soldiers have also sometimes destroyed settler encampments built without government permission and barred Israeli activists from entering the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To counteract that influence, Mr. Smotrich said, the government has:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"css-1le37cb ez3869y0\">\n<li class=\"css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\">Stripped the army\u2019s top commander in the West Bank of the ability to block settlement construction plans.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\">Secured nearly $270 million from Israel\u2019s defense budget to guard settlements in 2024-2025.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To some extent, Mr. Smotrich\u2019s comments appeared to be an attempt to defuse criticism from his own base about his record in office. Settler activists say that the military still too often stops them from building <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/05\/world\/middleeast\/israel-palestine-settlers-west-bank.html\" title=\"\">new settlement outposts<\/a>, and that Mr. Smotrich has not done enough to intervene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFifteen years ago, I was one of those running on the hills, erecting tents,\u201d Mr. Smotrich told the settlers in his speech. Now, he said that his behind-the-scenes work will have far more impact than the construction of any single settlement encampment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Johnatan Reiss<!-- --> contributed reporting from Tel Aviv and <!-- -->Adam Rasgon<!-- --> from Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/middleeast\/israel-west-bank-netanyahu-bezalel-smotrich.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s coalition told settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that the government is engaged in a stealthy effort to irreversibly change the way the territory is governed, to cement Israel\u2019s control over it without being accused of formally annexing it. In a taped recording of the speech, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/20westbank-leak-1-zqbw\/20westbank-leak-1-zqbw-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[673,8192,10718,4794,5630,3954,1178,2008,5054,6501],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78189,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78187\/revisions\/78189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}