“Either them or us”: Smotrich calls to “kill idea of Palestinian state”
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
‘Israeli’ Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, has reiterated his firm rejection of a Palestinian state, stating that ‘Israel’ must "kill the idea" of a Palestinian state.
In a recent interview with Hebrew media, Smotrich declared, "It's either them or us”.
"It's either them or us. There is no middle ground," Smotrich said in an interview with the ‘Israeli’ outlet JDN.
He also said that they “are killing the idea of a Palestinian state."
“The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled…The lines of Areas A, B, and C must be erased,” he continued.
"The terrible disaster of the Oslo Accords must be erased. We must take control of the entire territory’.
He described himself as leading the mission to prevent any territorial concessions, advocating instead for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and full ‘Israeli’ control over the West Bank.
He also asserted that no new settlements have been established under current policies, framing settlement activity as normalization rather than expansion.
Smotrich's remarks come amid ongoing ‘Israeli’ settlement development in the occupied West Bank.
Over recent years, his ministry has approved thousands of housing units and infrastructure projects, including plans that connect existing settlements to Jerusalem.
He has consistently argued that such measures render a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.
Critics, including international organizations and Palestinian officials, contend that these policies undermine prospects for a two-state solution and violate international law.
The United Nations and several governments have condemned settlement expansion and called for reversal of measures that alter the demographic and territorial landscape of the West Bank.
Smotrich, who also holds a ministerial role in the Defense Ministry, has long promoted a vision of ‘Israeli’ sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the ‘Israeli’ biblical terms for the West Bank.
