Bezalel Smotrich
Bezalel Yoel Smotrich is an Israeli politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. The leader of the Religious Zionist Party, he previously served as a Knesset member for the Jewish Home and Yamina, leaving in 2023 after resigning under the Norwegian Law, allowing him to remain a minister in the government while his seat in the Knesset could be taken by another candidate from his party.
Standing...
Stories...
Aug 23, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich, as finance minister, is using his authority to divert funds to settlements and promote his Greater Israel agenda.
Hadash sees Smotrich's budget moves as a direct attack on Palestinian rights and a waste of public resources that should be directed to social welfare.
Aug 22, 2026
Lean Left
As Finance Minister, Smotrich is promoting settlement budget expansions and an annexation agenda, using his fiscal powers to entrench occupation.
Left critics target his use of state funds to discriminate against Palestinian communities, calling it a violation of equality and democratic principles.
Aug 22, 2026
Far Left
Finance Minister using budget to fund settlements and restrict Palestinian construction, while also calling for weakening Supreme Court.
Seen as the emblem of far-right extremist agenda, exploiting state power to entrench occupation and erode legal protections.
Aug 21, 2026
Lean Left
Finance Minister overseeing budget transfers to settlements and restrictions on Palestinian construction.
His settlement-first budget is a direct assault on equality and two-state prospects.
Aug 20, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich announced new settlement outpost approvals and expanded Israeli control over West Bank lands, escalating tensions.
Hadash condemns his annexationist agenda as a direct threat to any two-state solution and a provocation that fuels conflict and human rights abuses.
Aug 20, 2026
Lean Left
Finance Minister diverting funds to settlements and using portfolio to entrench annexation.
Criticized for weaponizing the budget to build a de facto single state, undermining any left-wing economic agenda.
Aug 19, 2026
Lean Left
As Finance Minister, pushing settlement expansion and discriminatory budgets while overseeing fiscal policy.
Embodies the far-right's effort to entrench occupation and erode civil society funding, a direct threat to left-wing causes.
Aug 19, 2026
Far Left
As finance minister, he is using budget powers to fund settlements and curb Palestinian economic activity.
Hadash condemns Smotrich's open apartheid vision, seeing his policies as entrenching a two-tier legal system and deepening occupation.
Aug 18, 2026
Far Right
The finance minister was filmed dancing with his father Rabbi Yerucham Smotrich and singer Avraham Fried at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.
Religious Zionists see Smotrich's public Torah-rooted celebration as a defiant statement that the right's religious identity will not be erased by US pressure on Gaza.
Aug 18, 2026
Lean Left
The finance minister controls settlement budgets, outpost legalization, and the coalition funds flowing to far-right causes.
Labor/Meretz cast him as the architect of an annexationist economy that replaces welfare and public services with colonial spending.