Ben-Gvir demands Netanyahu add defeating West Bank terror groups to official war goals

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir addressed a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, requesting that the defeat of Hamas and other terror organizations in the West Bank be officially added as a goal of the war in the upcoming cabinet meeting.

פניתי לראש הממשלה, בבקשה לכלול את הכרעת חמאס ויתר ארגוני הטרור ביהודה ושומרון כאחד ממטרות המלחמה.טבח השבעה באוקטובר יצא לפועל בעקבות קונספציה חמורה שאסור לחזור עליה גם ביהודה ושומרון. אסור לחזור על הטעויות, מלחמה בחמאס — גם ביהודה ושומרון! pic.twitter.com/WvEvRKjO8J

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 6, 2024

Ben-Gvir blamed the October 7 massacre on the failed "conceptzia," the Hebrew term for dominant security theory, pushed forward by Netanyahu.

He took direct aim at the idea that allowing economic growth in the Gaza Strip would encourage quiet in that area, saying, "This conceptzia blew up in our faces."

The failed conceptzia

Ben-Gvir then said that this conceptzia is still being implemented in the West Bank and that by allowing the free movement of Palestinians, the government was strengthening terrorist organizations.

"The movement of Palestinian Authority residents is allowed freely on the roads, and terror organizations are getting significantly stronger. This is evident in the sharp increase in recent attempts by various terror organizations to carry out attacks," Ben-Gvir explained. 

He cited the recent murder of Israeli Police officers near the Tarqumiyah crossing on Sunday as just one such event.

He also said that although Hamas had been the primary perpetrator of October 7, both Fatah and Islamic Jihad had also participated in the attack and that these three were the main armed groups fighting the IDF in the West Bank.