Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said the country would annex the occupied West Bank if the international community officially recognizes the state of Palestine next month.

 

"You have no chance, there will be no Palestinian state," Smotrich said during a press conference addressed to several countries that plan to recognize the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

 

"You will not decide from overseas what the future of the Jewish people looks like," the minister, who has been pushing for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, said.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

 

Israel: Smotrich threatens West Bank takeover if Palestine recognized

4 minutes ago, bannork said:

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

We all know they are illegal, but why are the UN not stopping them?

All ministers in the Israeli govt are far right.
 

This thing is not human, here’s some things he has said.

Israeli minister says it may be ‘moral’ to starve 2 million Gazans, but ‘no one in the world would let us’

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/06/middleeast/israeli-minister-smotrich-starve-gazans-intl

 

41 minutes ago, bannork said:

“You will not decide from overseas what the future of the Jewish people looks like," the minister,

They were not complaining when we decided to give them Israel. 
 

 

32 minutes ago, Chris.C said:

This thing is not human, here’s some things he has said.

They remind be of Nazis.

33 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

They remind be of Nazis.

Ironic ain’t it.

 

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has strongly condemned and denounced remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the so-called “Greater Israel”, affirming its outright rejection of such provocative statements, which it described as a blatant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.

 

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the UAE’s firm rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab countries.

 

It called for an immediate end to incitement by extremists within the Israeli government, as well as a halt to all settlement and expansion plans that threaten regional stability and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence in the region and among its peoples.

 

UAE strongly condemns Israeli remarks about ‘Greater Israel’

Israel will annex the West Bank if it’s permitted to annex Gaza.

 

 

France on Saturday condemned Israel's decision to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank and called on Israel to drop the controversial E1 project to link Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, calling it "a serious violation of international law".

 

It came days after Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state.

 

The construction on a tract of land east of Jerusalem named E1 has been under consideration for more than two decades, and is especially controversial because it is one of the last geographic links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

 

France urges Israel to abandon controversial West Bank E1 settlement plan

On 8/15/2025 at 8:07 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

Israel will annex the West Bank if it’s permitted to annex Gaza.

 

 

Why would they want Gaza, they left it in 2006

On 8/14/2025 at 10:34 PM, bannork said:

"You will not decide from overseas what the future of the Jewish people looks like," the minister, who has been pushing for the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, said.

 

Most Jews aren't Israelis. Most Jews live outside (overseas) of Israel. 

 

Like the rest of those in charge there, he sounds like a Nazi war criminal. 

 

 

The 'future of the Jewish people'? hopefully no more Israel. Most Jews, as they are not Israeli and don't live there, would be safer and better off. 🙂 

Just an excuse. The takeover of the West Bank is happening by Israeli as we speak, virtually unopposed by the Israeli government and with only token protests from Europe, nothing from the US.

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

Just an excuse. The takeover of the West Bank is happening by Israeli as we speak, virtually unopposed by the Israeli government and with only token protests from Europe, nothing from the US.

So sad. The US is a Jewish country, well controlled by Jews.

Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy plans for a future Palestinian state.

 

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades – but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.

 

On Wednesday, the project received final approval from the Planning and Building Committee after the last petitions against it were rejected on August 6.

 

Israel approves settlement project that could divide West Bank

 

If the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul voiced strong criticism on Wednesday of Israel's go-ahead for a highly contested settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

 

"Such plans, if implemented, would be contrary to international law and would make a two-state solution impossible," Wadephul told journalists on the sidelines of a visit to Jakarta.

 

A spokesman for the German Foreign Office said that the plan would "de facto separate the northern part of the West Bank from the southern part." The mobility of Palestinians in the West Bank and Palestinians in East Jerusalem would be considerably restricted as a result.

 

Germany's Wadephul slams Israel's West Bank settlement project

 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday urged Israel to halt plans for a highly contested settlement project in the occupied West Bank, saying they violate international law and go against UN resolutions.

 

"The advancement of this project is an existential threat to the two-State solution. It would sever the northern and southern West Bank and have severe consequences for the territorial contiguity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory," Guterres's spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli planning committee approved a plan to build about 3,400 housing units in the so-called E1 area, a critical stretch of land between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim.

 

UN chief urges Israel to stop West Bank settlement project

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain summoned Israel's ambassador in London on Thursday following Israel's approval of a widely condemned settlement plan that would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state.

 

Britain, along with other European nations, has slammed the plan as a "flagrant" breach of international law that would undermine the idea of a two-state solution.

 

UK summons Israeli ambassador over settlement plan

Israel gave final approval Wednesday for an illegal in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

 

On Thursday, 21 countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan condemned the plan, saying it renders a future two-state solution for Palestinians impossible.

 

In a joint statement, the countries called Israel's construction plans a violation of international law.

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, and Italy also signed the statement.

 

Countries condemn Israel's settlement plan in occupied West Bank