Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead a government decision to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria before his trip to the UN.
At an Arutz Sheva and Samaria Council conference on sovereignty, Smotrich said, "If a Palestinian state is not established - then why not apply sovereignty? It's zero or one. Whoever does not apply sovereignty is essentially admitting that it is not ours, and God forbid leaves the door open for the handover of the land and an existential threat."
He emphasized that the State of Israel already exercises "de facto sovereignty" through construction, regulation and development, but according to him, "this bleeding issue cannot be left open. It is the one that is eroding our international standing. As soon as we impose sovereignty, the world will get used to it, just as it got used to the Golan and Jerusalem."
Regarding the expected international pressure and especially the moves being led by French President Emmanuel Macron, Smotrich said: "What Macron is doing is a political October 7th. On the eve of October 7th, they did not wake the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is criticizing this, and rightly so. Why didn't you wake me up? If you had woken me up, the whole reality might have looked different.
I tell the Prime Minister, what Macron is doing is an October 7th and now we are all waking you up. We are all ringing the bells. We are all saying, ‘What a pity that such a political attack should pass without a response of full sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.' Just as it is clear to everyone that it would have been terrible if October 7th had passed without a response."
Smotrich, a member of the cabinet, also referred to the need to occupy Gaza City and return the hostages held by Hamas. "We currently want to launch a quick occupation, lay siege on Gaza, and then advance to the central camps and lay siege on them as well. We believe that this stage is collapsing Hamas. We want to hope that much earlier, Hamas will surrender, return the hostages, leave Gaza and allow us to demobilize it on our own terms. If that does not happen, we will go for a quick occupation. The Prime Minister has set a deadline for this until the end of the year.
This is the only way to return the hostages: defeat Hamas. There is one more way, to surrender to Hamas. Those who call for surrender are actually willing to bring Israel to a dangerous defeat. No country in the world has surrendered to terrorism of taking hostages, and Israel will not be the first. Victory in Gaza means the destruction of Hamas. "But we must prevail in Judea and Samaria too: apply sovereignty, continue building Jewish communities, and obliterate the idea of a Palestinian state once and for all. This is not only right from a Zionist and security perspective - it is also right politically."