Smotrich Responds to Palestinian Authority Over Settlement Remarks

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement warning of "danger in the statements made by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich." In Ramallah, they claimed Smotrich's remarks, in which he called for war against terror organizations in Judea and Samaria, treating them as in the Gaza Strip, and dismantling the Palestinian Authority, constitute "an explicit call to escalate the attack and commit further crimes against the Palestinian people."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded, stating, "The terror authority, which supports and encourages terror, understands the significance of the settlement revolution. We are determined to continue it, to strengthen the security of the State of Israel, and to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian terror state. The next step is already imminent: transferring the settlement revolution to the Negev and the Galilee."

Smotrich added, "The continuation of the settlement revolution and its transfer to the Negev and the Galilee will only be possible with great and strong religious Zionism. It will not be possible at all if a dangerous left-wing government led by Izankot-Lieberman-Golan rises, which openly declares its intention to evacuate the settlements and outposts we have established, and to establish a terror state in the heart of the State of Israel."