Israeli minister says next government must 'encourage' Palestinian migration from West Bank

Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that the next government should "encourage" the migration of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism party and settlement leaders in the West Bank, the finance minister also called for an end to the Oslo Accords that created the Palestinian Authority in 1993.

“Destroy the idea of an Arab terror state; finally, formally and practically cancel the cursed Oslo Accords and get on the path of sovereignty, while encouraging migration both from Gaza and from Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the nationalist term for the West Bank.

“There is no other long-term solution.”

Smotrich was speaking at a vineyard near Ramallah where he presented what he called "Colonisation 2030".

His comments come as Israel has advanced plans to effectively extend annexed territories into the West Bank.

According to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organisation, the government last week approved a plan to expand the illegal settlement of Adam, also known as Geva Binyamin, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.

The project is being presented as a new “neighbourhood” of the Adam settlement. However, Peace Now says it would have no physical connection to the existing built-up settlement.

Instead, it would effectively extend the municipal boundary of Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1980 in a move not recognised internationally. 

If implemented, it would mark the first time since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 that it has taken formal steps to expand its boundaries deeper into West Bank territory.

A week prior to that, the security cabinet also announced a series of decisions to “dramatically” change land registration and property acquisition procedures in the West Bank.

'Destabilising' and 'unlawful'

The move was denounced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres as "destabilising" and "unlawful", while the Israeli campaign group Peace Now called it "de facto annexation".

Smotrich's comments mark an escalation in rhetoric about the West Bank, having previously largely focused on annexation and ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip.

Under international law, an occupying power is prohibited from undertaking land registration in occupied territory.

Because of its irreversible nature, the process is widely viewed as a tool for asserting sovereignty over land under occupation.

The decision followed the approval last week of a raft of measures that expand Israel's civil control in Areas A and B - where all major Palestinian cities and towns are located - which since the Oslo Accords have officially been under PA jurisdiction. 

Peace Now said that Israel approved a record 54 settlements in 2025.