JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who supports the annexation of the occupied West Bank, said on Tuesday that he was traveling to the United States for a brief visit.
“The goal of this visit is to strengthen economic cooperation between Israel and the United States... and deepen the strategic alliance between our two countries,” Smotrich wrote on social media platform X.
His trip comes with US President Donald Trump expected to announce whether to back the annexation of all or part of the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Smotrich, an ultranationalist settler whose support is key to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary majority, said he would meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as other US government officials.
The visit coincides with an Arab League summit on Tuesday in Cairo, where leaders are discussing a counterproposal to Trump’s February 4 plan for US control of Gaza.
Under that plan, Palestinians living in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip would be transferred to third countries, and the coastal territory would be turned into what Trump called “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Asked when unveiling the plan whether he backed Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Trump said he would probably “make an announcement” on the issue within four weeks.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top legal body, issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel’s prolonged presence in the West Bank was unlawful.
The United Nations regularly condemns Israel’s settlement expansion in the territory as illegal under international law.
Far-right Israel minister Smotrich heading to the US
https://arab.news/6rrgk
Far-right Israel minister Smotrich heading to the US
- His trip comes with US President Donald Trump expected to announce whether to back the annexation of all or part of the West Bank
Israel’s Supreme Court suspends govt move to shut army radio
- Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station.
In a ruling issued late Sunday, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said the suspension was partly because the government “did not provide a clear commitment not to take irreversible steps before the court reaches a final decision.”
He added that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported the suspension.
The cabinet last week approved the closure of Galei Tsahal, with the shutdown scheduled to take effect before March 1, 2026.
Founded in 1950, Galei Tsahal is widely known for its flagship news programs and has long been followed by both domestic and foreign correspondents.
A government audience survey ranks it as Israel’s third most listened-to radio station, with a market share of 17.7 percent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged ministers to back the closure, saying there had been repeated proposals over the years to remove the station from the military, abolish it or privatise it.
But Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser and is facing dismissal proceedings initiated by the premier, has warned that closing the station raised “concerns about possible political interference in public broadcasting.”
She added that it “poses questions regarding an infringement on freedom of expression and of the press.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Galei Tsahal broadcasts “political and divisive content” that does not align with military values.
He said soldiers, civilians and bereaved families had complained that the station did not represent them and undermined morale and the war effort.
Katz also argued that a military-run radio station serving the general public is an anomaly in democratic countries.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid had condemned the closure decision, calling it part of the government’s effort to suppress freedom of expression ahead of elections.
Israel is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2026, and Netanyahu has said he will seek another term as prime minister.
