Friday, December 2, 2022

Netanyahu gives Smotrich broad powers over settlements, Palestinian construction

Prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu granted far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich extensive powers over Israeli settlements and Palestinian construction in the West Bank as part of a coalition deal signed on Thursday between Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and Netanyahu’s Likud.

Under the agreement, authority over the settlement and open lands divisions in the powerful Civil Administration and Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit will be handed to a Religious Zionism minister based in the Defense Ministry, a spokesperson for the party confirmed.

Channel 12 reported that this minister will likely be Smotrich himself, who will also be taking over the Treasury under the agreement, though the party said that has yet to be finalized.

The sensitive appointment will give Religious Zionism control over key aspects of civil life in the West Bank’s Area C, including parts of the Civil Administration governing Israeli and Palestinian construction there. The prospect of handing such powers to Religious Zionism, with its pro-annexation agenda, has been criticized by some as tantamount to annexing areas of the West Bank. READ MORE