Despite international pressure, Israel continues its settlement plans in the West Bank. The government has now approved the construction of a new settlement in Gush Ezion, south of Jerusalem.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that work was underway to approve further construction projects. “We will continue the momentum of settlement construction across the country,” said the politician from the right-wing religious party Tkuma, presenting the further roadmap.
Israel had already announced last week that it wanted to build 3,000 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank. The US criticized the decision. The US presidential office said the settlements were not compatible with international law.
Palestinians see settlement construction as a deliberate policy by Israel to undermine an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Smotrich dreams of ‘Greater Israel’
Smotrich heads one of the two religious-nationalist parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative coalition and lives in a settlement himself. Last year, the 44-year-old sparked international outrage with, among other things, the following statement: “There is no such thing as Palestinians, because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.” He presented a ‘Greater Israel’ map, which also included the West Bank and Jordan.
Source: Krone
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