At a Jerusalem press conference on September 3, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a sweeping sovereignty plan aimed at applying Israeli control over some 82% of the occupied West Bank, which he referred to by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria. Standing alongside leaders of West Bank settlement councils, Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a “historic decision” to extend sovereignty across all “open areas” in the territory, rejecting solutions based on settlement blocs or partial annexation.
Smotrich emphasized a guiding principle for his proposal: “maximum land with minimum Arab population.” He proposed a phased administrative model, initially allowing limited Palestinian Authority (PA) civil administration but ultimately replacing it with what he described as “regional civilian management alternatives”. He characterized the plan as a preventive measure against international moves to recognize a Palestinian state, affirming his commitment that “there will never, and can never be, a Palestinian state in our land.” He further warned that if the PA “dares to rise up and try to harm us, we will destroy them just as we do to Hamas”.
Internationally, Smotrich’s plan has ignited swift condemnation. Arab states—including Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar—denounced the initiative as a blatant violation of international law and a stark assault on the Palestinian right to statehood. Advocates for peace, such as the NGO Peace Now, warn that such moves including recent approval of thousands of housing units and advancement of the controversial E1 settlement corridor, will severely undermine the possibility of a two-state solution. The international community, including the UN and EU, largely considers such annexation efforts illegal and destabilizing.
Smotrich’s long-standing pursuit of annexation has manifested through administrative shifts in the West Bank. Since early 2023, he has consolidated civilian authority over West Bank governance, infrastructure, and planning transferring control away from military structures, a move critics say represents de facto annexation.
