Annexation: While the IDF fights in Gaza, Smotrich is seizing control of the West Bank - opinion

In February 2023, Bezalel Smotrich was appointed as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defense, alongside his role as finance minister. The division of power between Smotrich and the defense minister (Yoav Gallant at the time) granted Smotrich control over all civilian affairs in the West Bank. That, alongside Smotrich’s control over the Finance Ministry, granted him power to implement his political vision, channeling funds toward expanding the settlement enterprise and deepening Israel’s grip on occupied territories.

Shortly after his appointment, Smotrich established the Settlement Administration, a new governmental body operating within the Ministry of Defense and reporting directly to him. This administration is responsible for formulating governance policies in the West Bank in civilian matters, overseeing the Civil Administration, managing land policies and allocations, and enforcing construction laws – including demolitions. It also plays a central role in extending Israeli legal jurisdiction over settlers through military orders and improving the services they receive from Israeli government ministries. The head of the Settlement Administration, Yehuda Eliyahu, is a settler who co-founded the right-wing organization Regavim with Smotrich and is considered one of his closest allies.

With Israeli and global attention focused on the ongoing war, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the fate of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the Israeli government has doubled down on its annexation agenda. Despite massive budget cuts across almost all government ministries due to wartime expenses – including support for displaced Israeli communities – settlement budgets remained untouched. In fact, resources allocated for settlement expansion and increased Israeli control over the West Bank surged dramatically. 

Under the cover of war, while many Israelis remain displaced, bury their loved ones, and anxiously await news of the hostages, the government has accelerated settlement expansion in the West Bank: approving thousands of new housing units; authorizing illegal outposts and transforming them into permanent settlements; declaring a record number of lands as “state land” (which in practice are allocated for settlements); and investing heavily in infrastructure projects such as archaeological and tourism sites, road networks, and improved cellular coverage – all for the benefit of settlers. Simultaneously, dozens of new outposts – many of them “farm outposts” intended to take over land – have been established across the West Bank, often accompanied by extreme violence against Palestinians. With close to no law enforcement against settler violence and active harassment by Israeli authorities, some of these outposts have led to the expulsion of Palestinian communities, amounting to de facto ethnic cleansing in certain areas of the West Bank.

While settlement expansion and development continue at an unprecedented pace, Israeli authorities have intensified demolitions of Palestinian structures built without permits – permits that are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.

Unlike the judicial overhaul within Israel, which was temporarily paused when Benny Gantz joined the emergency government (and resumed after his resignation), the annexationist coup in the West Bank never stopped. On the contrary, in May 2024 a civilian was appointed to the position of deputy head of the Civil Administration for the first time. The title “deputy head of the Civil Administration” is misleading, as the deputy is subordinate to the Settlement Administration in Smotrich’s office, not to the head of the Civil Administration. He does not receive instructions from him, nor is he obligated to report to or consult with him. The Civil Administration is the military body responsible for implementing the army’s civilian policies in the West Bank. The deputy was granted extensive administrative powers in most areas of control over the occupied territory. In addition, he was granted the authority to issue regulations in areas under his responsibility, effectively making him an unelected secondary legislator in the West Bank. The powers granted are dramatic, as they constitute the core of governmental power – setting policy and its implementation in the occupied West Bank.

In practice, the deputy head of the Civil Administration, who is now the actual head of the administration, is subordinate to a hierarchical chain headed by another minister in the Ministry of Defense, with the army almost entirely removed from the decision-making process regarding most aspects of civilian life in the West Bank.

As part of this gradual process of transferring areas of authority from the military to civilian government bodies, another significant step is the transfer of authority from the military advocate general (the legal adviser for the Judea and Samaria area) to the legal adviser for the security establishment.

The process of stripping the military of its powers and shifting control over to civilian bodies under Smotrich’s leadership is almost complete. The next steps expected are the dismantling of the Civil Administration entirely and enacting full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank through Knesset legislation. Just recently, the Knesset passed in a preliminary reading a bill concerning land purchases in the West Bank. This proposed law would not only irreversibly alter land ownership in the territory, favoring settlers, but also serve as direct legislation over the occupied territory by the Knesset. If passed, this would mark a formal declaration that the Knesset holds legislative authority in the West Bank – effectively asserting Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

The government is systematically executing a strategy designed to cement full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, establishing a reality of Jewish supremacy while confining the Palestinian population to ever-smaller enclaves. The legal and structural transformations necessary for this process have already taken place. Annexation is no longer a future threat – it is a present reality. The government is now charging ahead toward formalizing full sovereignty over the West Bank, and seemingly laying the groundwork for re-establishing control and settlement expansion in Gaza.

I was born and raised in Kfar Aza, and I am deeply connected to the place and the community that was my home during my childhood and adolescence. On October 7, I was visiting my family at the kibbutz when the murderous Hamas attack took place. I lost my beloved sister-in-law, Mira Stahl, as well as many friends and acquaintances. Gali and Ziv Berman, members of the community, are still held captive by Hamas. Hundreds of days have passed since that horrible day, but the neglect and abandonment continue: The rehabilitation of the people and communities affected in the South and North of Israel is not a priority for our government, and the agreement on the release of the hostages and the ceasefire is hanging by a thread, threatening to collapse at any moment. The policy of annexation and the application of sovereignty in the West Bank are a continuation of the abandonment of Israeli citizens. Not only are they illegal under international law, turning Israel into an immoral apartheid regime and a pariah state, but they also guarantee that the cycle of bloodshed will continue for generations to come.■

Ziv Stahl is the executive director of the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din.