Smotrich: "We will have to go to war in Judea and Samaria"

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, was a guest on "Yasmin's Salon," the podcast of social entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yasmin Lukatz.

In the full episode, which will be released next week, Smotrich stated that Israel will have to "go to war" in Judea and Samaria to ensure that no illegal weapons remain in the hands of Palestinians:

"The Oslo Accords were supposed to give them 12,000 short guns. How did they suddenly get tens of thousands of long guns? It's terrifying. I'm not worried for myself. I live in Kedumim, there are standby squads, a security system, the army, and so on. I don't understand how you sleep peacefully here. This thing can flip in seconds."

According to the minister, there are tens of thousands of "supposedly legal" weapons in the region, but the actual number of illegal weapons is in the hundreds of thousands. He also noted the presence of significant weaponry within the Arab sector inside Israel, including over 1,000 MAG machine guns.

"Think if one percent of that turns against us on nationalistic grounds on the next October 7th. How many pickup trucks with assault rifles are here on the city streets, do you understand the significance of this? Do you understand the significance of turning the barrels in Judea and Samaria? We must disarm all the weapons there, there will be no choice. Now we are doing it in Gaza, we were forced, we got a slap in the face, and what I have been calling to do all these years did not happen. We will have to go to war in Judea and Samaria, which will disarm the Arabs there and leave weapons only in the hands of the State of Israel."

Smotrich emphasized that these measures are necessary to ensure the safety of citizens in the center of the country, including Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ra'anana, and Kfar Saba.