‘Israeli’ finance minister calls to “go to war” in West Bank

• Smotrich advocated for the complete dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, labeling it a "terrorist authority," while rejecting security warnings regarding escalating tensions.
• Smotrich called for annexing territory in Gaza up to the "yellow line" and extending Israel's border to the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

‘Israeli’ Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich has called for launching a full-scale military campaign in the occupied West Bank, urging the government to replicate tactics executed in the Gaza Strip and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking on ynet's Hebrew-language political podcast 120 and One, Smotrich rejected security warnings regarding growing instability across the West Bank, arguing that military leadership must focus on operational solutions rather than issuing assessments.

Smotrich outlined an uncompromising military strategy for the West Bank, citing the evacuation of three refugee camps in the northern territory as a model for broader security operations.

"I think we need to go to war in Judea and Samaria, to do there what we did in Gaza, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is a terror authority... Just as you dismantled Hamas in Gaza, there will be no terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria — no terrorists, no weapons, no tunnels,” he stated.

Defining "going to war" in the West Bank as a full-scale military campaign aimed at completely dismantling armed infrastructure, Smotrich declared: “We’ve already done it. There are three refugee camps there that are empty. We evacuated the population for its protection and cleared out all the terrorism. I want to kill all the terrorists and collect all the weapons.”

He further advocated for severe movement restrictions, stating that if vehicles are turned into weapons for ramming attacks, Palestinians should be barred from using shared roads.

Addressing broader regional fronts, Smotrich called for permanent territorial expansion beyond pre-war boundaries to establish sterile security zones.

He urged the government to annex territory in Gaza up to the "yellow line" buffer zone and extend ‘Israel's’ northern border to the Litani River in Lebanon. Smotrich asserted that ending a conflict along original borderlines fails to deter opposing forces from initiating future confrontations.

Smotrich's statements arrive approximately one month before ‘Israel's’ upcoming parliamentary election, with opinion polls showing neither the governing coalition nor the opposition bloc holding a clear 60-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset.

Smotrich dismissed the prospect of forming a broad unity government across political divides, framing the choice for voters as a critical security decision despite the government's tenure during the October 7 security collapse.