Yediot Aharonot commentator Nahum Barnea published a column in which he complains that Minister Bezalel Smotrich has, in effect, taken over the civilian administration of Judea and Samaria.
"In the twenty months of the current government's rule, Smotrich has wrought a revolution in the situation of Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank. The headlines in the media are misleading: they mention the West Bank only in the context of Arab and Jewish terrorism or IDF-initiated operations. The real, historic change is taking place in air-conditioned offices, under the radar, and is becoming an irreversible reality on the ground," Barnea writes of the minister's activities.
He adds that "A second department has been started Ministry of Defense. On the fifteenth floor of the ministry, above the office of the defense minister, Smotrich has set up his own empire. Its chief of staff is Hillel Roth, a former resident of Yitzhar and now a resident of Revava, a personal, political appointment of Smotrich. His title is misleading - deputy head of the Civil Administration for Civil Affairs. In every practical sense he is the ruler of the West Bank. The Persians called the office pasha; the Turks sandjak bey; the British governor; the Germans gauleiter; the Israeli version is longer, for show."
"The municipalization of services was one of the means by which Smotrich and his people sought to free themselves from the control of the army and to pursue de facto annexation. I personally have no problem with annexation, as long as everyone enjoys equal rights and equal opportunities. This is not the case," argues Barnea.
He goes on to note that "In the Jewish towns, there are four times as many declarations of state land, four times as many building permits. In addition, dozens of outposts are being established without permits. Illegal construction by Jews is not penalized or removed, with the encouragement of the minister in charge. In the Civil Administration there is currently a complete and total ban on enforcing the law on lawbreakers. Demolitions are now only in rare cases, and only for urgent security considerations."
Smotrich responded on Twitter: "How disconnected must one be to continue even after the 7th of October to support the establishment of a terror state in the heart of the country and to attack those who work to prevent it? Disconnected as putting it in a bigger headline than a terror attack in which three Jews were murdered."
"My life's work is to build the Land of Israel and to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger the State of Israel. This is not political. It is national and existential. This is why I have taken on myself, in addition to the role of Minister of Finance, also the responsibility for the civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria. I will continue, God willing, to work with all my might so that the half million settlers who are on the front lines and under fire will enjoy the rights of every citizen in Israel and so that facts on the ground will be established that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian terror state that would be a forward base for Iran to launch the next massacre in Kfar Saba, Ra'anana and the entire center of the country."
Israel Ganz, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, responded: "In a normal situation, one who promotes 'liberal and democratic' values, praises a minister who promotes human and civil rights, and gradually, in the face of powerful bureaucrats and military personnel, succeeds in correcting a crooked reality of decades that denies basic rights and discriminates against hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens who are reserve soldiers and taxpayers."
"In a just world, the attackers would have conducted an inquiry into the broken state of affairs in which civilian life pertaining to water, electricity, classrooms, bus stops, and playgrounds for children is run by soldiers. Thanks to Minister Smotrich for working hard to correct this situation - and there is much to do," said Ganz.