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Hard-liner Bezalel Smotrich was just put in charge of Israel’s settlements. Here’s what that means.
(JTA) – Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich got one of his longtime wishes: authority over the civilian life of settlers, and some Palestinians, in the West Bank. The role is a chance for Smotrich, a right-wing firebrand and staunch advocate of annexing settlements to Israel, to mold the territory according to his ideology.
But this week, the perils of the job also became clear: After a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israelis in the village of Huwara on Sunday, a mob of settlers rampaged in the village, burning cars and buildings and injuring residents.
In the days following, at least publicly, Smotrich has appeared conflicted over his response to the riots. He liked a tweet calling to “wipe out” the village, then issued his own tweet addressed to his “settler brothers” decrying the rampaging. Then he shared a third set of tweets that endorsed collective punishment — but not through mob violence — and compared the riot to nonviolent protests in Tel Aviv.
Later in the week, he sympathized with the rioters and their goal. On Tuesday, he published a lengthy Facebook post in which he called the rioters “a small group whose patience ran out and who acted inappropriately.” Part of him, he wrote, wanted “to identify with the pain and the anger and the feeling that it’s impossible to sit quietly any longer.”
On Wednesday, a journalist asked him to explain why he liked the tweet calling for the village to be “wiped out.” “Because I think the village of Huwara should be wiped out, I think that the state of Israel should do it.” A few hours later, he again walked back his statement: “To remove any doubt, in my words I did not mean wiping out the village of Huwara, but rather acting in a targeted way against terrorists and supporters of terror, and exacting a heavy price from them in order to return security to local residents.”
Sunday’s violence points to the contentious issues Smotrich will have to handle in his new role, coping with escalating violence as he and his partners seek to reshape life in the West Bank.
Both Smotrich and his ideological foes are portraying his new job as the harbinger of a sea change in the territory — one that will expand the settlements and make them more entrenched. Meanwhile, the current Israeli government, which includes Smotrich and his far-right allies, has promised to build and recognize more settlements.
“The transfer of civilian authority over the settlements to us, and the beginning of the process of normalizing settlements, are also a great and strategic achievement,” he wrote in the Facebook post on Tuesday. “Even if it takes time to ripen and change the rudder of the ship, it will lead, God willing, to a dramatic change.”
Here’s a rundown of who Smotrich is, what his new job involves, how it fits in with the Israeli government’s settlement plans, and what his limits are.
Who is Bezalel Smotrich, and what job did he just receive?
Smotrich, 43, is himself a settler and has served in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, for nearly eight years. During that time, he’s been one of the most right-wing lawmakers in Knesset, and has faced blowback for comments denigrating Arab women and the LGBTQ community.
He has also spent years calling for the annexation of settlements and proposing legislation to that effect, to no avail. But his fortunes changed last year, when his party, Religious Zionism, won 14 seats, becoming the Knesset’s third-largest party.
The coalition agreement the party signed in December with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to give Smotrich authority over civilian life in the settlements. Governing all aspects of civilian life in the settlements is currently the province of Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and he and Smotrich clashed over the past couple of months.
Smotrich made clear he was impatient to assume the new role, and was worried Netanyahu was balking. “Defense minister Galant’s disavowal of the unequivocal agreement, and the prime minister’s foot-dragging on the matter are unacceptable and will not be allowed to continue,” he wrote on Twitter on Feb. 15.
But Netanyahu fulfilled the coalition agreement on Thursday, and in a deal signed by Netanyahu, Smotrich and Galant, Smotrich was handed authority over day-to-day affairs in the settlements. He tweeted that the deal entailed “A holiday for the residents of Judea and Samaria,” the Israeli government’s term for the West Bank.
Does that mean Smotrich is about to annex the settlements to Israel?
No. The agreement explicitly counts out annexation, and Smotrich was at pains in December to assure Americans, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, that annexation was not happening in the immediate future.
But Smotrich is now in charge of life in Area C of the West Bank, which makes up the bulk of the territory. All of the Israeli settlements are in Area C, where Israel has full control over civilian affairs. (The Palestinian Authority governs civilian life in Areas A and B, which comprise 40% of the West Bank and include the majority of the territories’ Palestinians.)
That is why critics of Netanyahu’s government are claiming that an annexation plan is at the heart of Netanyahu’s agreement with Smotrich. Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli human rights lawyer, wrote that Smotrich is now effectively “the governor of the West Bank,” because he will be able to largely erase legal boundaries between the settlements and Israel’s recognized borders.
“Today the government of Israel has taken an action which entails de jure annexation of the West Bank,” wrote in posts on social media. “Transferring powers to Israeli civilian hands is an act of de jure annexation because it entails removing power from the occupying military and placing it directly in the hands of the government — this is an expression of sovereignty.”
Who’s in charge of Israel’s West Bank policy?
The particulars of the new arrangement in the West Bank, according to the deal signed on Thursday, are complex and a bit confusing. Smotrich is responsible for land use by Israelis and Palestinians in Area C, but it’s not clear if he has authority over Palestinian freedom of movement into and out of the area. His full responsibilities are listed in annexes not made public. The military, meanwhile, retains the authority to evacuate illegally built settlement outposts, though Smotrich may be able to stall that process.
That means it’s not clear who’s on top, except for a provision that makes Netanyahu the arbiter of any disputes between Smotrich and Galant, or Smotrich and the military.
The agreement does pledge to erase divisions between Israel and the Jewish settlements. It says Smotrich will launch an initiative called “Equality of Citizenship” that will “improve and streamline services in Judea and Samaria” through Israeli government ministries — that is, not via the military that has been in charge of such matters for more than half a century.
How is the U.S. responding?
The Biden administration, which has otherwise maintained friendly engagement with Netanyahu’s new government, had reportedly pressured him to renege on the new job for Smotrich. Biden officials found an ally on that issue in Israel’s defense establishment, which also was loath to hand over any degree of control to Smotrich, Axios reported.
And confusion in the chain of command when it comes to dismantling settlements may prompt the Biden administration to intervene, said Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“The critical issues that we need to look at, they’re happening all over the place, whether it’s the transfer of authority from the Minister of Defense to Minister Smotrich for control over the civil administration, whether it’s the regularization of these outposts or their legalization,” said Kurtzer, who was speaking in a Zoom call last week organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
Criticism also came from Israel’s opposition. Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and IDF chief of staff, tweeted out a confusing flow chart of the new division of responsibilities between Smotrich and Galant.
“This doesn’t look like a chain of command,” he wrote. “This looks like a labyrinth that endangers Israel’s security.”
What’s next?
Smotrich has already said he plans to accelerate the building of Jewish settlements and limit building by Palestinians in Area C. Palestinians say they build without permits in the area because the Israeli authorities rarely grant building permits. That’s unlikely to change now.
On Tuesday, Smotrich pledged that an illegal settlement that has repeatedly been dismantled will be rebuilt and recognized by the government. And his first comment after the agreement was reached was to reiterate his pledge to limit Palestinian rights.
He said, “We will act with determination to stop the illegal Arab takeover of open lands in Judea and Samaria.”
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Students for Justice in Palestine Surrenders Occidental College Encampment as Trustees Review Divestment Proposal
Member of Occidental College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine addressing social media while occupying a section of the campus in April 2026. Photo: Screenshot.
Occidental College in Los Angeles informed the public earlier this week that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) took down an encampment it established during the final weeks of the semester to protest the school’s financial ties to Israel, a grievance manufactured by the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement to promote its goal of eliminating the Jewish state.
By all accounts, the short-lived demonstration generated none of the widespread interest and enthusiasm that infused anti-Israel encampments of the 2023-2024 academic year, when many activists on campus vowed not to abandon their tents unless administrators acceded to the demands of the “global intifada.”
In contrast, SJP’s chapter at Occidental left the section of campus it occupied without permission “peacefully,” the college told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
“Students involved in the encampment cited a recently submitted divestment proposal as their key issue,” it continued in a statement to The Algemeiner. “That proposal is currently under review by the College’s Board of Trustees through the college’s established process, which is designed to gather input from across our community.”
Further evidence of this encampment’s wilted spirit is the college’s confirming that it has successfully identified and initiated disciplinary proceedings against several protesters who engaged in “some actions” which violated the code of conduct as well as policies regulating peaceful assembly.
“These policies exist to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our entire community and to minimize disruption to campus operation,” the college said. “Occidental is committed to upholding these standards. We have been enforcing our policies in a way that prioritizes deescalation and our community’s safety.”
On Tuesday, SJP said it “will be back” in a post which proclaimed, “Long live the liberated zone!! Long live the intifada!! Long live the resistance!!” The statement hints at the possibility of a second encampment should Occidental College ultimately reject the divestment proposal that the school’s communications official said is already being review by the board of trustees.
Historically, Occidental College has opposed SJP’s call for adopting the BDS movement, arguing that doing so “would potentially chill the expression of diverse opinions” and be “divisive and damaging to the college community.” It has also welcomed working with Jewish advocacy groups to improve relations between DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) officials and Jewish students, the latter of whom continue to report that DEI officials across the country block antisemitism investigations or refuse to punish those found guilty of discriminatory conduct.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a federal civil rights complaint against Occidental which alleged that it had failed to correct a “pervasive and hostile environment” in which Jewish students were subject to “severe antisemitic bullying, intimidation, and physical threats.” To settle the case, the college agreed in November 2024 to “sweeping reforms” which included adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a reference guide for investigations of anti-Jewish hatred and adding a section on antisemitism to training courses on compliance with federal civil rights laws.
“As I believe this resolution demonstrates, antisemitism is antithetical to the college’s values,” Occidental president Tom Stritikus said after the resolution was announced. “Discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students should be unequivocally rejected in our community. As we continue campus discussions around inclusivity, Jewish and Israel identities should be recognized alongside other groups that have historically faced discrimination due to their religious, ancestral, or national identities.”
Occidental College is not the only higher education institution that SJP targeted for the establishment of an encampment this month.
On April 18, SJP at Smith College in Massachusetts occupied the Chapin Lawn section of campus and renamed it “The People’s University.” Armed with a litany of demands calling for “restructuring” Smith’s governance of its endowment, transferring power over the institution from administrators to faculty and students, and a “required course on race” informed by the divisive critical race theory discipline, the students initially vowed to dwell in the encampment indefinitely.
However, the mounting presence of public safety officers around the encampment site and little indication that the demonstration held the drawing power of encampments of previous academic years prompted SJP to consider settling for less than it wanted.
Additionally, the college had notified the group of being in violation of campus policies on peaceful assembly and threatened SJP with disciplinary sanctions, which the group described as “fear tactics.” Tamra Bates, director of student engagement, personally told the students they would be punished as “individuals” and, the group added, public safety officers addressed “at least one student” by their “full name.” After three days, paranoia took hold of the organizers, and they issued a prohibition on photography “at any time … especially of people’s faces.”
SJP ultimately agreed to enter negotiations with the college over email, a process which concluded with Smith College agreeing to hold a meeting with the group and college trustees “before the end of the semester.”
The students decamped the following Saturday.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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US Lawmakers Warn of Aid Cuts if Nigeria Fails to Counter Islamist Attacks Against Christians
A Nigerian police truck stands at the deserted Maiduguri Monday Market the morning after multiple explosions struck the northeastern city of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, March 17, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi
The US House Appropriations Committee has advanced a State Department funding bill which will restrict aid to Nigeria if the current government cannot stop what one lawmaker labeled a genocide against Christians.
“The Tinubu administration is spending millions lobbying Congress while failing to adequately address the genocide Nigerian Christians face daily,” Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) posted on X on Wednesday. He said the appropriations panel, on which he serves, “just passed our annual State Department funding bill which takes serious steps to address this crisis.”
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed office in May 2023, is a member of the All Progressives Caucus (APC), one of Nigeria’s two dominant political parties, the other being the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The US legislation sets three conditions for Nigeria to receive full funding of aid: “taking effective steps to prevent and respond to violence and hold perpetrators accountable; prioritizing resources to support victims of such violence, including internally displaced persons”; and “actively facilitating the safe return, resettlement, and reconstruction of communities impacted by the violence.”
The bill limits US support for Nigeria to 50 percent unless the American secretary of state can certify the government adheres to all three conditions.
Moore posted on X that the bill requires Nigeria to focus on preventing atrocities, advancing religious freedom, prosecuting Fulani ethnic militia groups, and targeting jihadists. The congressman described how, if signed into law, the measure would insist on the government “bolstering faith-based organizations’ response in areas impacted by violence.”
According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), “between October 2019 and September 2024, ORFA documented 66,656 deaths across Nigeria, of these, 36,056 were civilians. The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) were responsible for a staggering 47 percent of all civilian killings — more than five times the combined death toll of Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State – West Africa Province], which together accounted for just 11 percent of civilian deaths.”
These killings heavily targeted Christians. ORFA notes that “the data reveals that 2.4 Christians were killed for every Muslim during this period, with proportional losses to Christian communities reaching exceptional levels. In states where attacks occur, Christians were murdered at a rate 5.2 times higher than Muslims relative to their population size.”
Following this terrorism, Nigeria has seen a surge in the number of orphans, with data from SOS Children’s Villages showing 17.5 million now in the country, the second highest globally after India.
The violence against Christians is part of a surge of Islamist terrorist attacks across the Sahel region of West Africa, concentrated in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Northern Nigeria. A report released last year from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point revealed that in 2024, 86 percent of all terrorism-related deaths occurred in just 10 countries, with seven in Africa and five in the Sahel.
Over the weekend, Mali saw terrorist attacks in multiple locations which left Defense Minister Sadio Camara dead and the northeastern town Kidal seized. The strikes came following an alliance between Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM,) and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a separatist group seeking to establish its own state.
Nigeria released a statement of support for Mali.
“Nigeria stands in solidarity with Mali and reaffirms the enduring ties of brotherhood, shared destiny, and collective resilience that define the African spirit,” said the ministry of foreign affairs’ spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa. “The Federal Government of Nigeria condemns the cowardly acts perpetrated by terrorist groups in different parts of the country in recent days which have resulted in the loss of lives and properties.”
Moore explained that the US bill also appropriates millions to fund International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement to counter FEM violence. “That provision also bolsters support for the establishment of state level police forces so Christians in Plateau and Benue aren’t sitting ducks waiting for help from Abuja,” Moore wrote on X.
Under the legislation, Moore said the secretary of state must “submit a plan for every dollar appropriated to Nigeria, and every dollar spent will have direct congressional oversight.” He added that “in my view, the Tinubu administration has failed to live up to the conditions the appropriations committee placed on security assistance.”
On March 16, three simultaneous explosions hit Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s northeast state Borno, resulting in 25 deaths.
The Nigerian government has previously defended itself against claims of failing to fight terrorism against Christians.
“Recent external claims suggesting systemic religious persecution in Nigeria are unfounded,” Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Dunoma Umar Ahmed said in November 2025, in response to warnings from President Donald Trump that the US military might need to intervene. “The state continues to wage a comprehensive counter-terrorism campaign against groups that target Nigerians of all faiths.”
Polling from Pew in 2020 found that 56 percent of Nigerians embraced Islam while 43 percent practice Christianity. However, traditional African religious beliefs also maintain broad influence, with approximately 70 percent of adults believing that spells, curses, and magic can impact people’s lives.
Both Christian and Muslim communities saw substantial growth in Nigeria during the last decade. The Muslim population rose 32 percent from 2010 to 2020, while the Christian population increased 25 percent. Nigeria contains the fifth largest Muslim population and sixth largest Christian population.
Overall, Nigeria has a current total population of 241 million people, making it the most populous country in Africa and sixth highest globally after Indonesia and Pakistan.
On Wednesday, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) released a statement from its leader in response to attacks and kidnappings at a church in Eda Oniyo Ekiti (that left one pastor dead) and at the Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State.
“We condemn this heinous act in the strongest possible terms. People had gathered peacefully to worship God, and they were met with violence. This is not just an attack on a church; it is a brutal assault on our shared humanity and the sanctity of life,” Archbishop Daniel Okoh said. “We mourn with the family of the slain Pastor and stand in full solidarity with the victims and the entire Christian community in Ekiti State. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been taken, and we call for their immediate and safe release.”
The fight to defend Nigerian Christians cuts across the aisle.
“Cracking down on the crisis Christians face in Nigeria has been supported in two appropriations bills by both Republicans and Democrats,” Moore wrote on X, concluding the announcement of the bill. “The United States will not turn a blind eye to the brutal persecution of our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Ebienfa said that “terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, remains a common adversary that demands unified resolve, sustained cooperation and reaffirmation of our shared humanity to tackle.”
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Janet Mills Drops Out of Maine Senate Democratic Primary, Clearing Path for Anti-Israel Candidate Graham Platner
Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a campaign town hall meeting in Ogunquit, Maine, US, Oct. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday announced that she is ending her campaign in the Democratic primary for US Senate, a move that effectively clears the path for progressive challenger Graham Platner to secure the nomination in a high-stakes race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
In a statement, Mills cited the financial demands of a competitive statewide campaign, acknowledging she lacked the resources to continue. Her withdrawal came after weeks of trailing Platner in grassroots fundraising and momentum, despite support from establishment Democrats.
“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else — the fight — to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills said.
“That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate,” she continued.
The development represents a sharp ideological shift in the Democratic field. Mills, a two-term governor, had been viewed by party leaders as a pragmatic candidate with broad appeal and a traditionally strong stance on US alliances, including support for Israel. Mills’s candidacy failed to gain traction in the state, with observers pointing to a Democratic primary electorate that is both incensed and deeply desirous for a shakeup from the status quo.
Platner, in contrast to Mills, has built his campaign on an anti-establishment message and drawn increasing scrutiny in part for his rhetoric on the Middle East. Some of his past statements criticizing Israel have alarmed more centrist Democrats and foreign policy observers, who argue his framing downplays Israel’s security concerns and risks alienating key constituencies in a general election.
Platner has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza and vowed to vote against further military assistance to the Jewish state. Earlier this month, Platner accused Israel of “exterminating” people in Gaza and refused to clarify his stance on whether Israel should remain a Jewish state. Most of his criticisms of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza omit any mention of the Hamas terrorist organization, framing Israel as an aggressor with intent of wiping out the Palestinian population.
Further, Platner came under scrutiny last year after it was revealed that the Democratic insurgent possesses a tattoo of a Totemkopf — a symbol historically used by Nazi military units. Though Platner has emphatically denied any knowledge of the tattoo’s connections to Nazism, skeptics have pointed out that the oyster farmer identifies as a military historian, raising serious doubts about his claims.
Concerns about Platner’s conduct and Totemkompf tattoo are already emerging as a potential liability in a race Democrats had hoped to make competitive. Collins, a moderate Republican with a long record of electoral success in Maine, has historically attracted independents and crossover voters, groups that could be wary of candidates perceived as ideologically extreme.
Mills’s exit also highlights a broader dynamic within the Democratic Party, as insurgent candidates in several primaries continue to gain traction over more traditional figures. While that energy has reshaped races across the country, it has also raised questions about general election viability in closely divided states.
Many observers have argued that Platner’s ascendance in the Democratic Party serves as another signal that the party is shifting further away from Israel and becoming more tolerant of antisemitism. Across the country, support for Israel has emerged as a litmus test within Democratic primary competitions, with candidates vowing to curtail support for Israel and being pressured to condemn the Jewish state as a perpetrator of “genocide.”
Despite Platner’s vulnerabilities and personal baggage, he has racked up a bevy of endorsements from Democratic power-players such as Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA). On Thursday, the Democratic Party officially endorsed Platner as the nominee to take on Collins.
As of now, polling indicates a close race in the Maine general election, with several polls showing Platner with a narrow lead over Collins. However, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has not yet aired ads against Platner, and the Republicans are expected to weaponize Platner’s history of controversial commentary in the lead-up to Election Day in November.