Finance minister says Israel to promote West Bank settlement
An aerial view shows the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 25, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg/File photo
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's hard-line finance minister said on Thursday that the government would promote West Bank settlements and punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority in response to Palestinian moves against Israel on the international stage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool/File photo
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party, said in a statement that the government supported his proposal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, which usually announces cabinet-level decisions, did not issue any statements and was not reachable for immediate comment.
Among the steps Smotrich said he was advancing was the revoking of "various approvals and benefits" for senior officials in the Palestinian Authority, approving new settlement buildings, and retroactively sanctioning some Jewish settlements.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Steven Scheer; Editing by Matthew Lewis)