Smotrich's statements.. Systematic steps driven by the ideology of extermination.

Dr. Aql Salah: Israel seeks to end any Palestinian national political entity and establish a limited administrative alternative under its sovereignty over the West Bank

Akrim Attallah: Smotrich's statements come in the context of an opportunistic exploitation of the international discourse on state recognition to justify an old annexation project

Nizar Nazzal: Smotrich aims to undermine any Palestinian political horizon, and his statements are a mix of ideological conviction and discourse directed internally and externally

Dr. Tamara Haddad: Smotrich's words go beyond political statements to actual dangers that include liquidating the Palestinian cause and undermining the chances of establishing a state

Nabhan Khreisha: The timing of the statements coinciding with some countries' readiness to recognize the State of Palestine makes them closer to a message of threat than to a feasible plan

Sari Samour: These policies are not mere media talk; they represent a tangible reality, and ignoring them is a strategic mistake given their direct impact on the Palestinian people

The recent statements by Israeli Finance Minister and Minister of so-called "Civil Administration" Bezalel Smotrich regarding the annexation of 82% of the West Bank reveal an existential threat to the Palestinian national project, a clear intention to end any independent political entity, and to transform the Palestinian Authority into merely a local administration without powers, thus ending any Palestinian political horizon.

Writers, political analysts, and specialists, in separate conversations with "Y," believe that these steps that Smotrich seeks to implement practically mean burying the two-state solution and imposing a settlement reality that connects settlements and isolates Palestinian cities into separate cantons.

They emphasize that the danger of these statements lies not only in their media aspect but also in being a translation of escalating Israeli policies on the ground, including the legitimization of settlement outposts, land confiscation, and economic restrictions, which warns of a security explosion in the West Bank and threatens to ignite a wide regional and international crisis.

They point out that Smotrich's statements regarding the annexation of the West Bank represent a serious warning that the Israeli settlement project has become a strategic plan aimed at ending the Palestinian entity; the Authority is threatened with becoming an administrative body without powers in "A" areas, while settlement expands to consume vast areas of land, deepening the isolation of Palestinian cities and undermining any possibility of establishing an independent state.

Statements reflecting the reality of daily practices on the ground

Political writer and researcher Dr. Aql Salah believes that the statements of Israeli Finance Minister and Minister of Civil Administration Bezalel Smotrich regarding the annexation of 82% of the West Bank are not just media statements but reflect the reality of daily practices on the ground.

Salah clarifies that these statements stem from an Israeli policy aimed at seizing as much land as possible with as few people as possible, pointing out that all steps taken by the Israeli government, including the attendance of Smotrich, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the ceremonies for building settlement units and legislating settlement outposts, confirm the seriousness of these policies.

Real dangers to all aspects of life in the West Bank

Salah emphasizes that these statements carry real dangers to all aspects of life in the West Bank, as they aim to dismantle the Palestinian dream of establishing a state and destroy the Palestinian economy by withholding tax revenues for several months, in order to "suffocate the Palestinian people" and threaten the continuity of the Palestinian Authority.

Salah confirms that Israel seeks to end any Palestinian national political entity and establish a limited administrative alternative under its sovereignty over the West Bank, a step that began in 2017 with the gradual withdrawal of powers from the Palestinian Authority.

Salah points out that Smotrich's statements carry four clear messages: the first to Western countries that their recognition of the Palestinian state does not change the reality; the second to the Authority and the Palestinian people to bear messages of frustration and force them to accept the reality; the third to the Israeli society to affirm that the West Bank is an integral part of Israel; and the fourth to the Arab and Gulf world to clarify that Israel is proceeding with a policy of gradual annexation.

Salah confirms that all steps taken by the Israeli government and settlers on the ground, including issuing settlement decisions, land confiscation, and economic restrictions on the Authority and the Palestinian people, align with this direction, affirming that Smotrich's statements are not just words but a tangible translation of ongoing annex