On Sunday, June 18, the Israeli Council of Ministers took another step toward annexing the West Bank, the Palestinian territory Israel has occupied for 56 years. This latest victory for the settlers includes two stipulations: first, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a staunch supporter of Greater Israel, is given responsibility for planning construction in the settlements, a prerogative previously under the remit of the defense minister. Second, a simplified development process. While six stages used to be required before projects could be definitively approved, now there are just two: Smotrich will give the initial green light then the proposal will be reviewed by a planning committee. No other political or military bodies will be involved.
Smotrich, who declared during his visit to Paris in March that the Palestinian people were an "invention," has been given virtually full powers to extend colonization as he sees fit in defiance of international law that prohibits the transfer of a civilian population to occupied territory. The promotion of this representative of the extremist and messianic fringe of the religious Zionist movement was decided in February when he took over the administration in charge of the West Bank within the Ministry of Defense and became de facto governor of the Palestinian territory.
His aim, set out in the coalition agreement negotiated by his party with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is to compel the latter to work "to formulate and promote a policy through which sovereignty will be applied in Judea-Samaria." In other words, the formal annexation of the West Bank. Smotrich intends to double the number of settlers on the occupied land. According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, there are currently 700,000 settlers, including 229,000 in East Jerusalem.
"The government is annexing the territories de facto, not annexing them de jure, because it won't say so officially, but the measures show that it's moving in that direction," said Mauricio Lapchik, director of external relations for Peace Now. With these new measures, "building housing in West Bank settlements will be almost as easy as in central cities like Tel Aviv or Haifa," he added. By removing steps before the final approval of projects, the Israeli government is restricting the ability of Western capitals to curb settlement activity.
Palestinian authority powerless
The Israeli anti-occupation NGO Yesh Din has stated that the new provisions are designed to "authorize uncontrolled settlement construction in the West Bank and render any international objection useless." Since the Oslo peace accords in 1993, the US has repeatedly intervened behind the scenes to slow down or suspend certain projects, such as the so-called "E1" to the east of Jerusalem, which would cut the West Bank in two if built. Despite the insistence of settler organizations, it has still not been put back on the agenda of the Netanyahu government.
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