Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Monday that he had submitted a plan to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take control of strategic land in the occupied West Bank. The announcement represents a clear challenge to the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers and groups involved in supporting settlement activity. In response to the EU decision, Smotrich posted on X, claiming that “European hypocrisy knows no bounds.” “No one will force the State of Israel to pursue a policy of national suicide,” he said, claiming that the attempt to turn the national conflict against Palestinian terrorism into a crime will fail. READ: EU agrees on sanctions targeting Israeli occupiers in West Bank The Israeli minister, who also […]
This article was sourced from Middle East Monitor.
Read Full Article on Middle East Monitor →![Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, on August 14, 2025. [Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-44.jpg)
