Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a news conference on settlements expansion and the long-frozen E1 settlement which would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025 [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]
Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published September 27, 2026
Israeli Finance Minister and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich has called for Israel to launch a full-scale military campaign in the occupied West Bank, saying Israeli forces should do there what they did in Gaza and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.
Smotrich made the remarks in an interview with Ynet published Sunday, September 27, as Israeli security officials have warned of increasing tensions in the West Bank and Israel prepares for its October 27 election.
“We need to go to war in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. He called for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled and said there should be no “terrorists, no weapons, no tunnels.”
The comments have drawn attention because they go beyond calls for targeted counterterrorism operations and explicitly invoke Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a model for the West Bank.
Smotrich calls for Gaza-style approach
Responding to concerns from Israeli military and security officials about the possibility of escalating violence in the West Bank, Smotrich said he believed the government needed to give the Israel Defense Forces a clear directive.
His proposal, according to Ynet, is for Israel to eliminate what he describes as terrorist infrastructure throughout the territory, including weapons, armed groups and tunnels. He also called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited administrative and security powers in parts of the West Bank.
The Times of Israel similarly reported that Smotrich said Israel should “go to war” in the West Bank and “do there what we did in Gaza.”
The Palestinian Authority was established as part of the Oslo process and remains the principal Palestinian governing institution in parts of the West Bank. A campaign aimed at dismantling it would therefore have consequences beyond military operations against armed groups.
West Bank tensions already high
Smotrich’s remarks come amid an increasingly tense security environment.
Al Jazeera reported that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had recorded more than 1,330 settler-related attacks against Palestinians between January and late July 2026, an average of about six incidents a day and the highest rate in roughly two decades.
The Israeli government has also announced a comprehensive military closure of the West Bank during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, with restrictions expected to remain in place through October 3.
That combination of heightened restrictions, settler violence and warnings from Israeli security officials has increased concern about the possibility of a broader escalation.
Palestinian Authority condemns the remarks
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned Smotrich’s statements, describing them as a call for a wider war and warning that dismantling Palestinian institutions could further undermine prospects for an independent Palestinian state.
The ministry said the comments should be viewed alongside settlement expansion, land confiscation and displacement policies, and warned that further escalation could increase instability across the region.
Those statements represent the Palestinian government’s response; Smotrich and Israeli officials describe their proposed actions primarily in terms of security and preventing attacks against Israelis.
Election politics adds another dimension
Smotrich’s comments also come approximately one month before Israel’s October 27 election.
Al Jazeera’s analysis noted that the timing has prompted questions about whether the rhetoric is partly connected to the election campaign. Human-rights lawyer Diana Buttu, quoted by Al Jazeera, argued that the comments should not simply be dismissed as campaign rhetoric and characterized them as a warning requiring international attention.
At the same time, Smotrich has long advocated a substantially expanded Israeli territorial presence in the West Bank, meaning his latest remarks are consistent with positions he has previously expressed rather than representing an entirely new policy direction. The Times of Israel reported that he has previously advocated annexing more than 80 percent of the West Bank.
Smotrich also calls for territorial annexations
The West Bank comments were part of a broader discussion in which Smotrich advocated territorial changes beyond the West Bank.
He said he would like Israel to annex territory in Gaza up to the current “Yellow Line” and territory in southern Lebanon extending to the Litani River. He argued that Israel’s enemies should pay a territorial price for the October 7, 2023 attack and subsequent wars.
Those proposals have significant regional implications because they concern territories involving Palestinian and Lebanese populations and remain subjects of international and regional dispute.
🧩 Bottom Line:
Bezalel Smotrich has publicly called for Israel to “go to war” in the West Bank, dismantle the Palestinian Authority and eliminate what he describes as terrorist infrastructure, explicitly pointing to Israel’s Gaza campaign as the model.
His remarks come at a particularly sensitive moment, with violence and restrictions already elevated, Israeli security officials warning of worsening tensions, and an election less than a month away.
Whether the comments become government policy remains uncertain. What is clear is that a senior Israeli cabinet minister is publicly advocating a substantially broader military approach to the West Bank, raising questions about civilian consequences, Palestinian governance and the wider regional security environment.
SOURCES: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY – Smotrich Urges Israel to Wage War in Occupied West Bank
AL JAZEERA – Israel’s Smotrich calls for ‘war’ in West Bank: Rhetoric or real threat?
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL – Smotrich: Israel must ‘go to war’ in West Bank, ‘do there what we did in Gaza’
