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...
Jun 21, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich advances a plan to legalize dozens of West Bank outposts and seize Palestinian land for settlers.
Hadash denounces Smotrich's de facto annexation agenda as a direct threat to peace and international law.
Jun 19, 2026
Center
Finance Minister and Religious Zionism leader who dismissed MK Moshe Solomon after discovering his talks to join Yoz Hendel's party.
Yesh Atid sees Smotrich's internal purge as evidence of the right-wing bloc's dysfunction and instability, opening the door for centrist alternatives.
Jun 19, 2026
Lean Left
The Finance Minister is advancing a budget that slashes social spending while funding illegal settlement outposts, sparking street demonstrations.
Smotrich represents the far-right's systematic dismantling of the welfare state and two-state solution, making him a key adversary for the left.
Jun 19, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich is advancing a plan to strip the Palestinian Authority of tax revenues.
Hadash sees Smotrich as an extremist settler leader deliberately strangling the Palestinian economy.
Jun 18, 2026
Lean Left
Pushes a budget that cuts funding for Arab municipalities and expands subsidies for West Bank settlements.
Labor/Meretz condemn his overtly racist budget priorities as a direct assault on equality and the two-state solution.
Jun 18, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich is advancing plans to legalize dozens of illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
Hadash sees Smotrich's actions as a direct violation of international law and a deliberate sabotage of any possibility for a two-state solution.
Jun 17, 2026
Lean Left
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is advancing policies that expand settlement budgets and restrict Palestinian land use.
Seen by Labor/Meretz as a key architect of annexationist policies that undermine the two-state solution and violate international law.
Jun 17, 2026
Far Left
Smotrich announced plans to advance thousands of new settlement homes in the West Bank, defying US warnings.
Hadash denounces Smotrich as an architect of annexation and apartheid policies that undermine any peace prospects.
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.