Israel should encourage West Bank settlement, argues the finance minister

In reaction to Palestinian actions against Israel on the international scene, Israel’s hardline finance minister declared on Thursday that the government would support West Bank settlements and punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority.

Heading a party that supports settlement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement that his proposal was backed by the government.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which typically releases decisions made at the cabinet level, remained silent and could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

Removing “various approvals and benefits” for top Palestinian Authority officials, permitting additional settlement construction, and retroactively recognizing several Jewish settlements were among the measures Smotrich claimed he was pushing.