Smotrich urges crackdown also in southern West Bank, says he’ll soon advance plan to strengthen settlements

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls for the ongoing major IDF counterterror campaign in the northern West Bank to be expanded to the territory’s south as well, following the “miraculous” thwarting of a terror bombing south of Jerusalem yesterday.

Two car bombs exploded in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank last night, in what security officials believe was a coordinated attack. Two Palestinian terrorists involved in the attacks were killed by troops at the scene.

“We are committed to expanding the operation in northern Samaria also to the Judea region and to act determinedly in the face of any threat,” says Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank. He uses the biblical names of the territory.

“Palestinian terrorism seeks to destroy the State of Israel, and the Israeli settlement of Judea and Samaria stands at the forefront of the defense of the entire state,” he tweets. “That’s why our response must be to strengthen the settlement enterprise and thwart the formation of a Palestinian state that would endanger our security and existence.

“We are working in the field to do this, and I will soon bring to the government’s approval a strategic plan to realize these goals.”