Israel’s advancement of settlement expansion in the West Bank is being undertaken with full US backing, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, while speaking about his push for sovereignty over the entire area as the country marks its 78th Independence Day.
In past efforts by Israel to expand control in the West Bank, the United States has called for maintaining stability in the area, adding that US President Donald Trump has not backed total annexation.
Smotrich said that Israel had “full coordination and full backing from the government and the current US administration for everything related to construction, regulation, and security in the West Bank.”
The far Right minister is the head of the Settlements Administration, a Defense Ministry body established in 2023 that manages matters in West Bank settlements and advances construction and housing in the area.
His statements calling for West Bank annexation often draw sharp international condemnation, as well as criticism for harming Israel’s global standing.
In an interview with the Post, he praised the country’s coordination with Trump.
Smotrich said that all the actions taken in the West Bank had been coordinated with the president, along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Smotrich noted that while Trump had not yet supported the application of Israeli sovereignty over all parts of the West Bank, he hoped that “we will also succeed in that.”
“Even in the previous [US] administration, we did things, but certainly in the current one, we receive great support, full backing,” Smotrich said.
Netanyahu supports West Bank settlement expansion, Smotrich says
When asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support for his work to expand settlements in the West Bank, Smotrich responded, “Do you think I could do anything without Netanyahu?”
“Everything was passed by cabinet decisions and government decisions, with full coordination with him,” he said.
“This is the policy of our government. I lead it, but I have full backing from everyone,” he explained. “Judea and Samaria are first and foremost part of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and they are critical for our security.”
Under the 1990s Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank was divided into three areas: A, B, and C, with Area C under full Israeli control.
Israel’s roughly 500,000 “settlers” live mainly in Area C, with most settlements considered legal under Israeli law and built on state land through government-approved decisions.
The push for Israeli sovereignty over all areas in the West Bank from right-wing ministers has drawn sharp criticism and condemnation from leaders of various countries worldwide.
Since the start of the current government’s term in 2022, over 51, 000 housing units have been approved for deposit and final authorization in the West Bank, according to Smotrich’s office at the end of 2025.
When asked about international response and harm to the country’s standing due to settlement expansion, Smotrich said that nowadays there was “much less condemnation.”
“We are establishing settlements, and they are supported. In the past, even building 50 housing units would lead to condemnation. Today it is very different.“
HE ADDED that the countries against settlements in the West Bank also “usually condemn Israel’s wars against Hamas in Gaza, against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and against Iran.”
“And there are countries, mainly in Europe, that have been influenced by Islamism. Their leaders politically attack Israel and stand on the wrong side of history, on the side of the Shi’ite axis,” he said.
“It is not new that countries sometimes, due to internal political considerations, choose to stand with evil instead of good.”
Gaza, West Bank Palestinians are part of Iranian 'axis of evil'
Smotrich said that the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are “part of the Iranian ‘axis of evil.’”
“Judea and Samaria is just like Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, just like Iran. We are fighting for our right to live,” Smotrich continued.
“On Independence Day Eve, we are fighting for the right to live as a sovereign Jewish state in our historical homeland.”
“Unfortunately, there are countries that choose the wrong side, but thank God the United States, led by President Trump, is leading a path of justice and morality and stands with Israel in this existential struggle,” he added.
When asked about the spike in Jewish extremist violence against West Bank Palestinians, which has led to violent attacks and vandalism in the area, Smotrich responded that “the campaign regarding settler violence is one of the biggest false campaigns there is.”
“The settler public is one of the least violent populations,” he insisted, adding that those who engage in “settler violence” were only a small portion among those living in the West Bank.
“In every society, there are small fringe cases of violence, in Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, Jerusalem, New York, Manhattan, Florida. It exists everywhere,” he said.
“The settler public is law-abiding, responsible, and disciplined; a population that has been under terror for many years and still responds with restraint deserves recognition.”
Smotrich added that Israel deals with any cases of violence through the police and the courts, “as every democratic state does. “But there is a campaign that takes marginal cases and inflates them to delegitimize Israel as a whole,” he claimed.
THE MINISTER spoke to the Post after the Sa-Nur settlement was reestablished in the West Bank on Sunday, over 20 years after it was evacuated as part of Israel’s Disengagement Plan. Over a dozen families have already taken up residence there.
The reestablishment ceremony was attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, cabinet members, and local settler activists.
“Families are there, and very soon we will also bring in additional settlements, with God’s help,” Smotrich said, regarding Sa-Nur.
“We are establishing many settlements, setting principles, and paving infrastructure. Beyond the fact that this is our land and we have historical, national, and biblical rights to it, it is also Israel’s security buffer zone.”
Smotrich calls for conquest of Gaza Strip
At the Sa-Nur ceremony, Smotrich said that he called on Netanyahu to instruct the IDF to prepare immediately for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip and to establish Israeli settlements there as well.
When asked about these remarks, he told the Post that Israel must learn lessons from October 7 and “cannot allow Hamas to sit on the fence, next to our communities, while our children grow up next to two million people who want to harm us, burn, destroy, and kill women, babies, and children.”
He continued, “We need larger borders in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. We must have defensible borders; the 1967 lines are not defensible; they do not take topography or geography into account.”
As Israel marks its 78th Independence Day on Wednesday, Smotrich told the Post that with each year, the country strengthened its sovereignty.
“In the past two-and-a-half years, we have become even stronger,” he said.
“We thank God, and we remember those who paid the ultimate price for our independence. We also thank those who have stood with Israel since its recognition at the UN until today.”
In conclusion, “For 78 years, we have been fighting for our existence, growing, developing, and becoming a regional power in technology, economy, defense, academia, and culture. We continue to strengthen Israel spiritually, morally, economically, and militarily.”
Smotrich said that he was pushing for sovereignty “in cooperation with all who stand on the side of good, and, thank God, the current US administration is among the greatest supporters of that.”