The UK has condemned Israeli government minister Bezalel Smotrich for suggesting annexation of the West Bank.
The finance minister, a hard-line settler leader, said he hoped the election of Donald Trump as the next US president will clear the way for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank in 2025.
The UK’s Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, said that would be illegal and would scupper any hopes for peace in the region.
He called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to reject the minister’s comments.
I condemn Minister Smotrich’s comments proposing annexation of land in the West Bank.
Annexation only undermines the prospects for peace, would lead to greater instability and would be illegal under international law. The Israeli government must reject this.
— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) November 14, 2024
“I condemn Minister Smotrich’s comments proposing annexation of land in the West Bank,” the Foreign Office minister said.
“Annexation only undermines the prospects for peace, would lead to greater instability and would be illegal under international law.
“The Israeli government must reject this.”
Mr Smotrich said in a speech on Monday that he will push “for the inclusion of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” – using the biblical term for the territory.
He said “2025 will be the year … of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”.
The territory on the West Bank of the River Jordan was occupied by Israel after the 1967 war.
It would form a key area of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine dispute.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel