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...
Jul 1, 2026
Center
He visited the Gaza border area, sparking criticism from a relative of a October 7 victim.
Yesh Atid sees him as detached from reality and avoiding responsibility for the government's failures.
Jul 1, 2026
Lean Left
Smotrich advances legislation to annex large parts of the West Bank de facto.
His actions are condemned by Labor/Meretz as a direct assault on any future two-state solution and international law.
Jul 1, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich announced new settlement outposts and budget transfers to West Bank settlers, sparking international condemnation.
From a Hadash perspective, he is an annexationist driving ethnic cleansing and deepening occupation, using state funds to entrench apartheid.
Jul 1, 2026
Far Left
Finance Minister Smotrich is expediting settlement budgets and annexation plans in the West Bank.
Hadash condemns him as a messianic racist whose policies aim to entrench occupation and destroy any chance for a Palestinian state.
Jun 30, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich is pushing for budget cuts to social services to fund West Bank settlements and military operations.
Hadash criticizes Smotrich for prioritizing settler expansion over the welfare of all citizens and for deepening the occupation.
Jun 30, 2026
Center
Criticized for claiming credit for the hostage release while he initially opposed the deal and worked to sabotage subsequent negotiations.
Yesh Atid condemns Smotrich as dishonest and an obstacle to any diplomatic resolution, prioritizing his ideology over lives.
Jun 30, 2026
Lean Left
Smotrich, as Finance Minister, advanced unprecedented settlement expansion and pushed for racial segregation in the West Bank.
He is condemned by the left for using state budgets to entrench occupation and undermine any possibility of a two-state solution.
Jun 30, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich advances budgetary allocations for settlers and blocks transfers of Palestinian tax funds, deepening the economic crisis in the occupied territories.
Hadash views Smotrich as the architect of apartheid policies that systematically dispossess Palestinians and violate international law.
Jun 28, 2026
Lean Left
Announces plans for thousands of new settlement homes in the West Bank.
Smotrich's provocations are seen as deliberate sabotage of any two-state solution, a core Labor/Meretz goal.
Jun 28, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich is overseeing a surge in settlement construction and legalization of outposts.
Hadash views Smotrich as an extremist driving the annexation of the West Bank and undermining any chance for peace.