Video of Israel's Smotrich detailing West Bank annexation resurfaces

Video of Israel's Smotrich detailing West Bank annexation resurfaces
An old video of Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich is resurfacing where, as part of his political plan, Palestinians have three choices: slavery, leave or death.
2 min read
11 October, 2024
The old video comes after the minister said Israel's state borders should be expanded into Syria [GETTY]

An video clip of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich describing how he would deal with the Palestinians after annexing the West Bank has resurfaced online.

The video, released in 2017, was part of a series of promotional clips Smotrich released after becoming an MP.

In one clip, he details how he plans to "defeat the Palestinians" after completing phase 1 of expanding into the West Bank.

Smotrich says he will give Palestinians three options.

The first option is offering resident status without the right to vote in return for renouncing their desire for a Palestinian state.

Those who "struggle" to abandon this aspiration, which the minister says is an "aspiration to kill Jews", will have to choose between two options.

The first is to move to another country, which Israel will help them do and which Smotrich says he would be "delighted" to help with. The second option, the minister says, is "defeat".

"For those who are uncomfortable with the word "peace", and continue down the path of terror, I'm sure we'll be able to defeat them," Smotrich says.

The resurfacing of the clip comes after it was featured in the Arte documentary 'Israel: Extremists in Power', which focuses on two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, against the backdrop of Israel's war on Gaza.

In an interview for the documentary, Smotrich also called for the borders of Israel to be expanded into Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

Users on X have been calling out the extremist plan, with one user saying: "In a nutshell, leave, die or stay as a slave".

"This is how the #Zionists state want to deal with real owners of the #Palestine. This is #genocidal behaviour, but the so called modern world supports this behaviour," said another.

"If you support Israel you support slavery, murder and theft. You're a demon. The rest of you must forgive us for what must be done to survive these terrorist hoards," another user said.

The documentary also highlights how the two ministers have gained considerable influence and how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has relied on their support, particularly after former premier Benny Gantz resigned from the emergency war cabinet.