Comments Monday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich were the strongest display yet of how Trump’s election has emboldened Israeli hard-liners.

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory Monday, saying that “the time has come” to extend full Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.

Israeli far-right minister and long-time supporter of Israeli settlements Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that he had ordered preparations for an Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel's new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's far-right finance minister said on Monday that he hopes Israel will extend sovereignty into the occupied West Bank in 2025.

A top official in Israel is floating his plan to take sovereign control over the West Bank in 2025. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday at a faction meeting of his Religious Zionism party that he believes “the time has come to apply [Israel’s] sovereignty over the West Bank,

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, has demanded the annexation of the Palestinian West Bank. He instructed the Defence Ministry's settlement department and civil administration to "begin professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure" for extending sovereignty,

Trump’s election an opportunity to apply Israeli sovereignty on West Bank: Smotrich Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, says he hopes to extend Israeli sovereignty into the occupied West Bank next year and hopes the incoming US administration under Donald Trump,