Smotrich calls on Netanyahu to annex West Bank if World Court declares settlements illegal
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Pledging to work toward “the application of de facto sovereignty” in the West Bank no matter what happens, hard-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the territory should the International Court of Justice declare Israeli settlements illegal.
“I hereby call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: If the International Court of Justice in The Hague does decide that the settlement enterprise is illegal – respond to them with a historic decision of applying sovereignty to the territories of the homeland,” Smotrich tells reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “No one will move the people of Israel from their land.”
The ICJ is set to deliver an advisory, non-binding opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian territories” on July 19. While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the ICJ ruling next week could add political pressure over the nine-month-old war against Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“In the meantime, until the application of sovereignty, I will continue, with God’s help, on my path of working for the development of the settlement [movement], for the application of de facto sovereignty and to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state through massive construction, regulating settlements, building roads and other measures in the field,” Smotrich adds.
Turning to the Israeli hostage release-ceasefire proposal currently being negotiated with Hamas, Smotrich asserts that the deal would serve as a “lifeline” for the terrorist group.
“Last week I stood here with a picture of [Hamas’s Gaza ruler Yahya] Sinwar and warned that if we agree to a dangerous deal that would give Sinwar a victory, we will lose the war,” he says, warning that coming to an agreement “will endanger Israel’s future and security.”
“We must not give it this lifeline. It is our duty to bring it closer to another rope, the hanging rope,” he says, questioning why the heads of Israel’s security agencies would support the deal.
“I do know that after October 7 and time and time again they are wrong in their strategic assessments, from Oslo to the expulsion from Gush Katif and the concepts of ‘Hamas deterred’ that preceded the massacre,” he says. “I love them, appreciate them, and respect them but am saying that they are wrong. In this case, common sense is so clear that one does not need to be a great general to understand the magnitude of the error.”
Agencies contributed to this report.