Cabinet ministers and coalition MKs vowed to annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip at a conference of the ultranationalist Sovereignty Movement’s youth chapter, Noar Ribonut, in the city of Sderot on Thursday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, and Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu all spoke out in favor of annexing the territory, with the latter seemingly calling for Israeli rule over Syria and Lebanon as well.
Organizers said they had decided to hold the conference in Sderot since it was a “symbol of determined Zionist steadfastness,” and said that the residents of the city had shown by example that “we do not abandon this land and we do not leave home.”
The Sovereignty Movement was founded in 2011 by veteran right-wing, settler leaders Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar to campaign on the issue of annexing the West Bank and thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The time has come for sovereignty, and for us to impose it right now,” said Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har Melech, a long-time proponent of annexing the West Bank.
“Sderot has suffered the price for not applying sovereignty, for abandoning the Gaza Strip,” she continued in reference to the thousands of rockets fired by Palestinian terror groups from Gaza which have hit the city over the last 25 years.
“The price for not imposing sovereignty is soaked in blood. If we don’t learn this lesson we will pay the price in blood again. Those who live in Sderot understand the price of hesitation, weakness and, retreat.
“We are not waiting for the non-Jews, sovereignty is the only way to ensure security.”
Eliyahu, also of Otzma Yehudit, seemingly called in his address for Israeli control over Syria and Lebanon, as well as sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza at an ultranationalist conference in Sderot.
The minister urged the participants to show “spirit” for the country to be victorious in its wars and national goals.
“What happened on Simhat Torah [October 7] wasn’t because we weren’t strong, because we didn’t have good technology or a good air force, or good tanks. What didn’t we have? Spirit,” contended Eliyahu.
“Do you want sovereignty, then shout it,” he told the audience.
“Do we want Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]? Do we want Syria? Do we want Lebanon? Do we want Gaza?” he called out to the crowd, who shouted back with an enthusiastic“Yes” for each territory he named.
“Then we need to shout it out,” said the minister.
Speaking in a video message to the conference, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lauded his efforts for asserting ever greater control over the West Bank, stating that “we are applying de facto sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.” As well as serving as finance minister, Smotrich also serves as a minister in the defense ministry and has broad powers over civilian matters in the West Bank, which he has used to retroactively legalize dozens of illegal settlement outposts and authorize the establishment of numerous new settlements.
Smotrich also expressed the hope that formal annexation of the territory could be achieved soon with the support of the Trump administration.
And Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi extoled his efforts in upgrading internet connectivity in the West Bank, saying that bringing infrastructure in the territory up to the same standard as within the pre-1967 borders was a key component of formally annexing the West Bank.
“Our right to the Land of Israel wasn’t born in the UN, it was born in Jerusalem, in Beit El, in Shiloh, in Hebron, this is our land by right and not by kindness,” he insisted.
“Together we will establish sovereignty from Judea and Samaria to Gaza.”
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has since annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan, in moves largely not recognized by much of the international community.
Israel has so far refrained from annexing the West Bank and Gaza — which it withdrew from entirely in 2005 — amid international pressure for the territories to form the base of a Palestinian state and concern for demographic challenges should Israel take in millions more Palestinian citizens.