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Smotrich Declares Oslo Accords "Null and Void," Demands PA's Collapse
(MENAFN) Israel's finance minister has pronounced the Oslo Accords dead and asserted that Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank rightfully belong to Israel, while pressing for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority.
Bezalel Smotrich, who also leads the Religious Zionism party, made the remarks at a conference on Sunday, conceding that his stance diverges from that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"In any case, Oslo is null and void. In any case, Areas A and B are also ours," he said. "That is a dispute with the prime minister," he added.
Smotrich said that, to his knowledge, Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of sites established in Areas A and B — a directive he said he opposed. "Netanyahu, to the best of my knowledge, gave an instruction to evacuate places established in Areas A and B. I don't like that instruction," he said.
The far-right Cabinet minister went further, calling for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled altogether, branding it a "terrorist entity" and accusing it of funding and encouraging attacks while inciting against Israel.
Smotrich also forecast a large-scale Israeli military campaign in the West Bank. "There will be no avoiding a war in Judea and Samaria in the near future, in which we will disarm all the Arabs in Judea and Samaria," he said, invoking the biblical name for the territory. He claimed the West Bank holds far more weapons than Israeli authorities publicly acknowledge, arguing Israel should gauge its adversaries by their capabilities rather than their stated intentions.
He also pointed to ongoing Israeli activity in Area C — including the expansion of settlements and farms, new road construction, land declarations, thousands of new housing units, and shifts in the legal and administrative systems governing the territory.
The West Bank was carved into Areas A, B and C under the 1995 Oslo II Accord. Area A falls under Palestinian administrative and security control; Area B under Palestinian administration paired with Israeli security oversight; and Area C — roughly 60% of the West Bank — remains under full Israeli control. Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967.
Bezalel Smotrich, who also leads the Religious Zionism party, made the remarks at a conference on Sunday, conceding that his stance diverges from that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"In any case, Oslo is null and void. In any case, Areas A and B are also ours," he said. "That is a dispute with the prime minister," he added.
Smotrich said that, to his knowledge, Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of sites established in Areas A and B — a directive he said he opposed. "Netanyahu, to the best of my knowledge, gave an instruction to evacuate places established in Areas A and B. I don't like that instruction," he said.
The far-right Cabinet minister went further, calling for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled altogether, branding it a "terrorist entity" and accusing it of funding and encouraging attacks while inciting against Israel.
Smotrich also forecast a large-scale Israeli military campaign in the West Bank. "There will be no avoiding a war in Judea and Samaria in the near future, in which we will disarm all the Arabs in Judea and Samaria," he said, invoking the biblical name for the territory. He claimed the West Bank holds far more weapons than Israeli authorities publicly acknowledge, arguing Israel should gauge its adversaries by their capabilities rather than their stated intentions.
He also pointed to ongoing Israeli activity in Area C — including the expansion of settlements and farms, new road construction, land declarations, thousands of new housing units, and shifts in the legal and administrative systems governing the territory.
The West Bank was carved into Areas A, B and C under the 1995 Oslo II Accord. Area A falls under Palestinian administrative and security control; Area B under Palestinian administration paired with Israeli security oversight; and Area C — roughly 60% of the West Bank — remains under full Israeli control. Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967.
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