- February 10, 2026: Energy Minister Eli Cohen from Netanyahu’s Likud party explained that recent steps taken by the Israeli government to further entrench its control over the occupied West Bank amount to imposing “de facto sovereignty” over the Palestinian territory, declaring that the moves “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state.”
- February 3, 2026: Defense Minister Yisrael Katz from Netanyahu’s Likud party said that the Israeli government is working to legalize 140 so-called settlement “outposts” established on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank in violation of Israeli law as well as international law and praised violent Israeli settlers whose attacks are driving indigenous Palestinians off their land as “the pioneers of our days,” noting they are “weakening the Palestinians’ efforts to establish themselves in the region.”
- January 20, 2026: Aryeh King, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem and founder of the far-right Israel Land Fund, which works to displace Palestinians from their homes and replace them with Jewish settlers, hailed Israel’s destruction of buildings used by UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for the well-being of Palestinian refugees, and declared his desire to kill all UNRWA officials and employees:
“With god’s help, in the great battle for all of the Land of Israel, we will drive out, annihilate, kill, and eliminate all the people of UNRWA.”
- January 19, 2026, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees Israel’s settlement enterprise in the West Bank and is a settler himself, claimed that “Gaza is ours” and called for Israel to permanently occupy it, to “encourage” Palestinians to leave, and to build settlements there again, declaring:
“it is either us or them. Either full Israeli control, the destruction of Hamas and the continued suppression of terrorism over time, encouraging the enemy’s emigration abroad and permanent Israeli settlement or, God forbid, squandering the efforts and costs of the war and waiting for the next round.”
- January 2, 2026: Minister of Culture Miki Zohar from Netanyahu’s Likud party declared that the occupied Palestinian West Bank and Gaza belong to Israel and that Palestinians in Gaza are just “guests” that Israel has allowed to stay, declaring:
“Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] are ours… Gaza is also ours. We’re just letting [Palestinians] stay there as guests until a certain point, but Gaza is ours.”
- December 25, 2025: Defense Minister Yisrael Katz declared that Israel will never fully withdraw its military from Gaza, vowed Israel will build settlements there again, and that it is imposing “practical sovereignty” (annexation) on the West Bank and ethnically cleansing Palestinians there, stating:
- December 25, 2025: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told an “education” conference that all Palestinians in Gaza are “Nazis” and declared the need to compel them to leave and replace them with Jewish settlers, stating:
- December 9, 2025: In announcing eight new illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich explained that Israel is de facto annexing the West Bank to preclude the creation of a Palestinian state, declaring:
- December 8, 2025: Rabbi Dov Lior, a highly influential leader of the religious Zionist movement and spiritual leader to the Jewish Power and Religious Zionism political parties and their leaders, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, respectively, called Palestinian members of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) “savages” and “camel riders” and said Israel should “encourage” Palestinians with Israeli citizenship to leave the country, declaring:
“In the northern part [of Gaza], it will be possible, in my view, to establish Garinei Nahal [settlement] in an orderly manner when the time comes.”
“I was at the inauguration of the new neighborhood in Beit El [settlement in the West Bank]... I said there that we are implementing a policy of practical sovereignty there. It is impossible now, due to the circumstances, to declare annexation. Practical annexation means ... [forcibly displacing] the Palestinians from the terror [refugee] camps and stationing the Israel Defense Forces there, and establishing settlements.”
“We cannot live with two million antisemitic Nazis who live off hatred of Israel and wake up every morning wanting to slaughter, murder, rape and burn. That is why we need to encourage their emigration and settle Gaza.”
“We are advancing de facto sovereignty [of the West Bank] on the ground to prevent any possibility of establishing an Arab state in Judea and Samaria.”
“The Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the People of Israel, and it is unthinkable that camel riders should sit in the Knesset of Israel. As long as the country’s leadership does not understand that the Land of Israel belongs solely to the Jewish people - it is inconceivable that they should sit in our parliament.”
“It is impossible for them to be lawmakers. He is a lawmaker like I am a jet pilot. They have turned a camel rider into a lawmaker - that is laughter and nonsense.”
“With these savages, there will be no peace, until the Land of Israel remains entirely in the hands of the Jewish people. We need to strive to encourage their departure.”