As settlers expand their hold on the West Bank, Trump’s election gives them even more hope [Video]

Supporters of Israel’s decades-old settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territories have been quick to welcome Donald Trump’s recent U.S. election victory and what they clearly expect will be a boon to their aim of formally annexing the West Bank.  

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, was confident enough to put a date on the aspiration during a Monday news conference in Jerusalem.   

“The year 2025 will, with God’s help, be the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the Jewish biblical name for the West Bank.  

Smotrich added he intends to work with “the new administration of President Trump, and with the international community” toward that goal.  

For Palestinians still clinging to hope that the occupied territories including East Jerusalem will one day form the basis for a Palestinian state, it’s one more thing to worry about on an already bleak horizon.  

Dror Etkes, …