Smotrich on the arrest warrant against him from The Hague: “This is a declaration of war, we will make Khan Ahmar”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commented on the submission of the application for an arrest warrant against him on behalf of the Criminal Court in The Hague: “The evil attempt to force us to commit security suicide through sanctions and arrest warrants will not be successful. As a sovereign country, we will not accept external dictates.” Smotrich promised to order the evacuation of the Khan al-Ahmar settlement in Mishor Adumim in response to the order.
He said these things at a press conference the day after the court order was announced. “I thank you, citizens of Israel, for the privilege you have given me to work in your mission. Unfortunately, this is not the case with European countries. This time the hands are the hands of the Union, and the voice is the voice of evil. I understand that there is a price I must pay for my people, I will pay it with my head held high. Essel is not just harming Smutritz or Netanyahu, they are harming our power.” The finance minister added that he would leave the country despite the order. According to him, the Palestinian Authority is behind the request for the arrest warrant.
Smotrich said issuing the arrest warrants was a “declaration of war” and vowed to evacuate the Palestinian settlement of Khan al-Ahmar in response. “I will attack the authority in every way possible. The first step is that I announce that from the moment I leave this meeting, I will sign the eviction of Khan al-Ahmar.”
Smotrich said of the evacuation of the Palestinian settlement: “This process, I repeat that it is now appropriate. And I repeat, it is a declaration of war. But also the maturation of a full-scale bureaucracy,” adding that “the prime minister is a full partner in the decision” and that the Supreme Court had previously approved the evacuation of the settlement. “I remember how many times I was told that the sky would fall if I approved the construction of E1. I tried to stay awake all night and told my wife that I didn’t know what was going to happen. When I got up in the morning, the sky didn’t fall.”
The point of contention and the confidential position that delayed the evacuation
Khan al-Ahmar, the Bedouin settlement near Mount Adumim, is considered one of the main points of contention between settlement movements and human rights organizations. Since 2018, the “Regavim” movement, which is close to Smotrich and his party, has been fighting to evacuate the town on the edge of the E1 area, whose annexation Smotrich announced around a year and a half ago.
According to sources close to Smotrich who spoke to “Davar,” it is an “illegal gathering” and the residents “will do what any destroyed illegal house does,” so it is apparently an evacuation from the specific area where they are sitting.
In 2018, the Supreme Court rejected residents’ petitions against the eviction and ruled that the government could carry out the eviction. However, in response to Regavim’s petitions, the state requested a delay in implementing the eviction for political and security reasons. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that the state can carry out the eviction at a time of its choosing and will not interfere with the government’s discretion.
In the Supreme Court hearings, the state presented alternatives for relocating the approximately 400 residents who live there in the Abu Dis area of East Jerusalem, an area where basic infrastructure development has taken place, or in an area near the city of Jericho. According to kibbutz movement activist Yoel Marshak, he had previously made an agreement with them and the Ministry of Defense that they would move to the Tel Arad area.
Despite the various agreements, the State took a confidential position in most of the discussions on the issue before the Supreme Court behind closed doors, after which the Supreme Court transferred the power of eviction to the State, stating that it would carry out the eviction if it wanted to do so. In doing so, Smotrich is apparently not violating any law and is acting in accordance with the court’s decision. However, the information submitted to the Supreme Court on this issue since 2021 remains prohibited from publication.
The residents of the town are not Israeli citizens, nor do they have a Palestinian identity card, but are considered UNRA refugees and have the status of subjects of the Palestinian Authority. The repeated attempts to arrange an evacuation for them, whether to Judea and Samaria or even the Tel Arad area, were met with resistance from their side, which, according to sources, was based on the resistance of Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen, who viewed this as an official capitulation to Israel on a political issue. According to “Davar,” residents of the town received threats and orders not to leave voluntarily.
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