Netanyahu To Agree To ‘Soft Annexation’ Of West Bank – ‘Israeli’ Media

By Staff, Agencies

Zionist PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to hand the so-called civil administration in the occupied West Bank to the far-right ‘Religious Zionism’ party, a move that signals more extremism towards Palestinians and a breach of the normalization deals concluded with some Arab states.

The Likud leader has decided to move the administration from the regime’s war ministry to the ministry of finance. His decision comes in order to appease his ally Bezalel Smotrich, who is a far-right member of the Knesset and leader of the Religious Zionism party, Haaretz reported.

The Times of ‘Israel’ also reported that, Smotrich, the intended finance minister, is eager to take control of the agency and advance his agenda of expanding illegal ‘Israeli’ settlements in the West Bank and thwarting Palestinian aspirations for an independent state in the territory.

The agreement was reportedly reached as part of the ongoing coalition talks between Netanyahu’s Likud and ‘Religious Zionism,’ which stalled once more after the parties failed to reach an agreement on several other key issues.

By agreeing to the transfer of the military body, Netanyahu has been accused of reneging on his deal with the Arab States.

The move “will be a ‘soft annexation’ of the WB & violation of the commitment Netanyahu gave the US & UAE to suspend his annexation plan,” said ‘Israeli’ journalist Barak Ravid on Twitter.

“It could harm the ‘Israel’-UAE peace treaty,” Ravid added, referring to the 2020 so-called Abraham Accords.

Under Netanyahu’s previous term, the Zionist regime sped up annexing Palestinian lands in order to expand illegal settlement projects. Also, political commentators and Netanyahu’s critics have long criticized him for demonizing the Arab community with his political rhetoric.

However, Netanyahu promised to expand so-called peace deals with Arab states after being tapped to form his new government. Sources said he will have to contend with far-right and ultra-Zionist allies who could complicate his efforts.

Before the elections, the UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed reportedly warned Netanyahu against including Smotrich or Ben-Gvir in a future government.

More than 700,000 Zionist settlers occupy over 250 illegal settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and east al-Quds.