Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed a plan to annex more than 82% of the West Bank, urging Netanyahu to impose Israeli sovereignty over these areas. He called for expelling most Palestinians while leaving only around 18% until an alternative is found to replace with another governance system under the Palestinian Authority temporarily. Smotrich labeled the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria,” advocating for a fully Jewish democratic state and stating: “Maximum land with minimum people.” He also threatened to crush the Palestinian Authority if it resists, just as they did with Hamas—HLRN.
Smotrich proposes annexing 82% of West Bank in bid to prevent Palestinian state
As UAE warns annexation a ‘red line,’ finance minister threatens PA with ‘destruction’ in plan that would isolate Palestinian population centers, leave them outside Israel
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday unveiled a proposal for Israel to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, even as the United Arab Emirates warned that such a move would spell the end of Israel’s integration into the Middle East.
The plan, unveiled together with a map of proposed borders on Wednesday, is the most concrete expression thus far of growing momentum in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to apply Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank in response to a range of Western countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state. Smotrich and other longtime proponents of Israel annexing the territory say their moment has come, despite international warnings against such a move.
“The broad consensus for sovereignty is a direct result of a deep understanding that we can never allow an existential threat to establish itself among us, and after decades of hesitation, it is time to state this clearly and act accordingly,” Smotrich said on Wednesday in a joint statement with Israel Ganz, who heads the Yesha Council, an umbrella body for West Bank settlements.
Using the biblical name for the West Bank, they added, “It is time to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and remove once and for all the idea of dividing our small land and establishing a terrorist state in its heart.”
Smotrich, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionism party and is in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, supports annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, and is an adamant opponent of Palestinian statehood. He has taken other steps to entrench Israel’s control of the West Bank in recent weeks, including advancing plans to build in a critical north-south corridor east of Jerusalem known as E1. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry declared a large swath of the West Bank to be state land.
Photo on front page: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gestures toward a map of the West Bank during a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, 3 September 2025. Source: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90. Image on this page: Israeli government map showing the annexation of 82% of West Bank Land. Source: Israeli Finance Ministry.
