Naftali Bennett, head of the Yachad party, set off a political storm after saying in a podcast interview on Monday that, in his view, Areas C should remain part of Israel, while Areas A and B should become part of a Palestinian autonomy. The remarks were presented as Bennett’s position on Judea and Samaria and drew immediate fire from his rivals.
Bennett said legal Israeli construction in Area C, on state land and not on private Palestinian property, is “blessed,” but added that building that is illegal, or outside Area C, is not legitimate. When asked what would happen if construction was done unlawfully, he replied, “What is not legal will not be, definitely,” and compared it to building on land privately owned by a resident, saying he would not allow someone to build on his land in Ra’anana.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich responded on X that Bennett, whom he expects to serve as a minister in an eventual Eisenkot government, had effectively admitted he would evacuate the newer settlements and farms established in recent years in Judea and Samaria. Smotrich said the idea of a “Palestinian autonomy” meant a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the country and warned that such a government would destroy the new settlements and agricultural outposts.
Israeli Benjamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz also attacked Bennett, saying he had announced “the establishment of a terror state” ten minutes from his home in Ra’anana. Ganz argued that, after the October 7 massacre, only someone ignoring reality would suggest handing strategic areas in the center of the country to what he described as a corrupt, Iran-backed Palestinian Authority force of about 50,000 armed fighters.
