Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently told workers of the Civil Administration, the Defense Ministry body in charge of Israeli and Palestinian civil affairs in the West Bank, that he hopes to shut down the department as part of Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Ynet reports.
“I hope we’ll have a great opportunity with the new US administration to create full normalization [of Israeli rule] and bring government ministries in here,” he is quoted as telling Civil Administration officials.
“There will be an orderly process, and we’re working now on solidifying the administrative work and putting the plan on the table.”
He added: “This is a serious statement, I’ve spoken with the prime minister about it and we are taking it very, very seriously. I also spoke with the designated ambassador to Washington, Dr. Yechiel Leiter. We are trying to create a real process here. There is a lot of work involved, but this was once an impossible reality, and we can make it a reality.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
