Far-Right Statements from Smotrich
Leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party Bezalel Smotrich, In a statement on the X social media platform, he emphasized that connecting the illegal settlement called “Gush Etzion” in the usurped Palestinian lands in the south of the West Bank to Jerusalem is a national duty. Smotrich stated that this settlement will be located in the “Gush Etzion” area south of Jerusalem, in the settlement called “Nachal Heletz” to be established for Israelis in the Palestinian territories.
Stating that the administrative affairs management unit of the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories has completed its operations, Smotrich announced that a new blue line has been published for Nachal Heletz in Gush Etzion. “The publication of this blue line allows the necessary procedures to be initiated for the establishment of Nachal Heletz,” Smotrich said. He also stated that “the establishment of a new settlement in Gush Etzion and its connection to Jerusalem is a historic moment.”
Noting that Nachal Heletz was one of five settlements approved by the Israeli government to be built on Palestinian land seizure in the West Bank two months ago, Smotrich added that this step was taken “in response to the Palestinian Authority’s practices against Israel and the recognition of “the state of Palestine by many Western countries.” Smotrich said, “No anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of the settlements. We will continue to fight the dangerous idea of establishing a Palestinian state and to impose our realities on the ground. This is the mission of “my life and I will continue to do so as long as I am able.”
Reaction from Palestine
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted strongly to Smotrich’s statement that illegal settlements had begun to be built on Palestinian lands usurped in Bethlehem. The ministry drew attention to the fact that the new construction plans were being implemented within the framework of Israel’s expansionist and colonialist policies. “The policy pursued includes legitimizing this by building so many illegal structures, expanding existing settlements, and transforming all settlements into a large geographically interconnected cluster and building a wide road network in a way that will take over most of the Palestinian lands in the West occupied Bank,” the statement said.
It was also stated that the Israeli government was demolishing Palestinian structures on the grounds that they were unlicensed and was intensifying colonial construction activities. The increase in demolition decisions and demolitions was described as the ugliest form of colonialism, which included replacing Palestinians with Israelis who usurped their lands. It was emphasized that this situation was both a crime of ethnic cleansing and a clear disregard for international legitimacy, international law and the advisory decisions of the International Court of Justice.
The statement noted that the international failure to implement the relevant United Nations (UN) resolutions emboldens Israel to continue its illegal construction activities and undermines the chance to revive the peace process based on a two-state solution.
Israeli NGO Peace Now(Peace Now) announced that it was decided to build Nachal Heletz on Palestinian lands, lands declared World Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was stated that the new unit would be in the center of Palestinian lands and would inevitably lead to more friction and security problems.
