Israel has placed primary responsibility for the occupied West Bank under an administrator under Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline government minister who supports annexing the area, in what analysts and human rights activists say is the latest step toward far-right forces' drive to expand Israeli settlements in the territory.
The administrative move, a long-standing goal of Smotrich, the finance minister and settler leader, strengthens his formal authority over many areas of civilian life, including construction and demolition permits, a key measure for settlers who see construction as a way to tighten their control over the West Bank.
It's the latest in a number of changes that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in Israel's history, has made over the past two years to how the West Bank is governed. Since the start of 2023, the government has eased the planning process for new settlements and gradually handed power from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to Smotrich, a longtime settler activist who wants to thwart the potential establishment of a Palestinian state in the territory.
The steps stop short of bringing the West Bank under full civilian control, and will have limited effect on the 40 percent of it controlled by the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority, but critics say they move Israel one step closer to nominal annexation of the territory.
Israel has for decades defended its control over the West Bank, arguing that it was a temporary military occupation since the 1967 war in accordance with international law applicable to occupied territories, not a permanent annexation under the sovereign control of Israeli civilian authorities. But the expansion of Smotrich's powers as a civilian minister is testing the limits of that argument.
The move to install a civilian leader in an area previously overseen solely by the military was finalized by the Israeli army on May 29, according to copies of two military orders reviewed by The New York Times. The orders name a deputy civilian leader for the West Bank who will report to Smotrich, an ultranationalist member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, who has a wide range of duties in the West Bank.
Settlers like Smotrich want to build more Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank on land that Palestinians hope will be the core of a future Palestinian state. Previous Israeli governments and generals have built and protected hundreds of settlements, but the order is likely to speed up that process, analysts and activists say.
Critics have already accused the government of failing to crack down on illegal settlement construction and settler violence, and of blocking measures to enforce the law.
Since the war began in October, the government has cracked down on the area with near-daily military strikes allegedly targeting terrorists. It has also enacted new restrictions that have emboldened settlers and put more economic pressure on Palestinians.
“We're talking about a change with a very clear political dimension: that any plans for settlement construction would be allowed very quickly and without any obstacles,” said Michael Milstein, a Palestinian studies expert and author at Tel Aviv University.
Critics say Smotrich's long-held goal of moving to civilian rule, which the army has provided security and civilian rule in much of the West Bank for decades, would tie decision-making more closely to Israeli domestic politics, though analysts say Defense Minister Yoav Galant could retain a say and block certain measures.
Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Israeli non-governmental organization Ir Amim, said the order was “historic” and that it “marks the first time that the West Bank will be formally administered through the Israeli civilian system rather than the military.”
Civilian political influence over the military government already existed to some extent, albeit in a less visible way, he said, “but now that influence is no longer exerted.”
A spokesman for Mr. Smotrich did not respond to a request for comment.
The new administration nominee, Hillel Roth, is a settler and member of the religious nationalist community who analysts say is likely to act to further Smotrich's agenda.
Milstein said Smotrich also had a different goal: to weaken the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank. In May, Smotrich announced that Israel would withhold revenues from the Palestinian Authority, worsening the Authority's severe financial crisis. In June, he said he had ordered that about $35 million in tax revenues collected on Israel's behalf be diverted to families of Israeli victims of terror attacks.
Since Israel captured the Jordanian-controlled West Bank in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the Israeli government has encouraged Jews to settle there by providing land, military protection, electricity, water and roads. Today, the area is home to 2.7 million Palestinians, including more than 500,000 settlers.
Most of the world considers the settlements illegal. Some Israeli Jews justify them on religious grounds, others on ancient and modern history, and still others say Israel must control the area to prevent militant Palestinian groups from seizing power.
Patrick Kingsley Contributed report.