US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel condemns far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s pledge to annex large parts of the West Bank following Donald Trump’s presidential election victory last week. “The comments that were made by this ...

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Comments Monday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich were the strongest display yet of how Trump’s election has emboldened Israeli hard-liners.

Israeli far-right minister and long-time supporter of Israeli settlements Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that he had ordered preparations for an Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s far-right minister of finance said that Donald Trump’s presidential election win means the “ time has come ” to annex the West Bank.

Donald Trump’s election victory is already emboldening Israeli far-right ministers who want to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that 2025 would be the year to fully annex the West Bank.

A top official in Israel is floating his plan to take sovereign control over the West Bank in 2025. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday at a faction meeting of his Religious Zionism party that he believes “the time has come to apply [Israel’s] sovereignty over the West Bank,

Israel's far-right finance minister said on Monday he hoped Israel would extend sovereignty into the occupied West Bank in 2025 and that he would push the government to engage the incoming Trump administration to gain Washington's support.