archiveBezalel Smotrich

NEW YORK – In a Thursday afternoon post on X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he signed an order transferring about $134 million from the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) frozen funds to victims of terrorism.Smotrich described the order, which he signed on Sunday, as an act of “historical justice,” saying that the PA “encourages and favors terrorism by paying the families of terrorists, prisoners, and released prisoners.”“By the judgments that awarded compensation to the victims of terrorism, we offset the same amounts from the PA’s funds and transfer the...

The European Union condemned Sunday the Israeli announcement that an additional 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the Jordan Valley would be classified as Israeli state land."The European Union firmly condemns the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that over 800 hectares of land in the occupied Palestinian territory have been declared as ‘state lands.’ This is the largest confiscation since the Oslo Accords," read the condemnation. The EU refuses to recognize changes to borderThe EU reaffirmed that, in line with its longstanding position, it will not recognize...