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.
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Jun 15, 2026
Far Right
Smotrich declared that following the US-Iran agreement, the main test for Israel is now Lebanon.
Praise from Religious Zionism for his clear-eyed focus on the security threat from Lebanon after a flawed Iran deal.
Jun 15, 2026
Lean Left
Smotrich is advancing annexation of West Bank land and defunding the Palestinian Authority.
Labor/Meretz view Smotrich as a messianic extremist whose policies destroy any two-state horizon.
Jun 15, 2026
Far Left
Finance Minister Smotrich pushes budget cuts to social welfare while funding illegal West Bank outposts.
Hadash denounces Smotrich for prioritizing settlers over working-class Israelis and starving public services.
Jun 14, 2026
Lean Left
He continues to promote controversial West Bank policies and challenge judicial authority, especially as Finance Minister and a minister in the Defense Ministry.
Viewed as driving extremist annexationist policies and diverting national resources to settlements, which damages Israel's economy and international standing.
Jun 14, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich consistently makes headlines for his explicit support for West Bank settlement expansion, discriminatory statements, and control over crucial civilian authorities in the occupied territories.
Hadash condemns his open calls for annexation, his racist ideology, and policies that directly violate international law and actively dispossess Palestinians, intensifying the occupation.
Jun 13, 2026
Lean Left
As Finance Minister, he drives fiscal policies that critics argue disproportionately benefit settlements and religious institutions while neglecting other sectors.
Labor/Meretz strongly criticizes Smotrich's economic and settlement policies, viewing them as discriminatory, fiscally irresponsible, and detrimental to prospects for a two-state solution and social equality.
Jun 13, 2026
Far Left
As Finance Minister, he promotes policies favoring settlements and often makes discriminatory statements against Arab citizens.
Hadash criticizes Smotrich for using his position to advance annexationist agendas, implement discriminatory budget policies, and openly espouse racist views against Palestinians.
Jun 12, 2026
Far Right
Finance Minister Smotrich is actively working to cancel a directive that stripped yeshiva donors of tax benefits, urging Shas and UTJ to support the necessary legislation.
Smotrich is fulfilling a core Religious Zionism coalition commitment by defending yeshiva funding infrastructure, while also using this moment to position himself as the effective broker between the secular finance bureaucracy and the haredi political bloc.
Jun 12, 2026
Center
Smotrich's participation in the pro-Israel march in New York drew backlash from Jewish organizations who felt deceived, and the government is advancing a billion-shekel settlement expansion plan, believed linked to his agenda, via a classified cabinet session.
Yesh Atid sees Smotrich as the architect of policies that both damage Israel's international standing and divert wartime resources toward ideological settlement expansion, with Netanyahu's secrecy around the funding decision confirming the government's complicity.
Jun 12, 2026
Lean Left
Smotrich is in the news for blocking humanitarian aid, advancing annexationist West Bank policies, and threatening to collapse the coalition if a Gaza ceasefire deal includes ending the war.
Labor and Meretz view Smotrich as the ideological architect of the government's most dangerous policies, using his Finance Ministry and West Bank civil administration powers to entrench a one-state reality that forecloses any two-state or democratic future.