Katz, Smotrich tour West Bank, vow to crack down on illegal Palestinian construction

Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tour the West Bank, reaffirming their commitment to Jewish settlements and cracking down on illegal Palestinian construction, according to a statement from Katz’s office.

“We will not abandon the security of settlers or allow [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas and the Palestinian Authority to use illegal construction as a tool to create a strategic threat against the settlements,” the statement says.

Accompanied by senior officials from the IDF, the Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry, Katz and Smotrich visited newly recognized communities like Kerem Reim and Sde Ephraim, according to the statement.

“The West Bank is the heart of Israel, and we will protect it with every means necessary,” Katz declares.

“Since 1967, there has not been such a transformation in the West Bank,” Smotrich says, adding that “the government has recognized 28 new communities and is enforcing regulations in areas that were previously ignored.”

“Settlers are not second-class citizens,” Smotrich affirms. “They deserve the same security as all Israelis. Judea and Samaria are our ancestral homeland, and we are here to stay,” he says, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.