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Bezalel Smotrich

Bezalel Smotrich is a far-right Israeli lawmaker and leader of the Religious Zionist Party, who currently serves as the country's finance minister as well as a minister in the Defense Ministry. In the past, Smotrich also served as transportation minister.

Smotrich is a highly divisive figure in Israeli politics, having been accused of racism, extremism, and homophobia. Smotrich has also gone on record saying that he is a "proud homophobe," staunch support for Israel's West Bank settlements, and rejects both the future existence of a Palestinian state as well as the existence of the Palestinian people.

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 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are both seen in the Knesset in Jerusalem.

Public spat between Netanyahu and Gallant reflects their power struggle

 Bezalel Smotrich

Smotrich cancels free trade deal, imposes 100% import tariffs on Turkish goods as rift grows

 FINANCE MINISTER Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a meeting of his Religious Zionist Party parliamentary faction, last week, in the Knesset. Will the war bring an economic boom like the Six Day War, or a bust like Yom Kippur? There are arguments supporting both sides, says the writer.

Smotrich defends delaying the purchase of fighter jets: 'Israel's security is not a game'

 Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Finance Minister Smotrich accused of compromising Israel's security for populist reasons

By Avi Ashkenazi
 Bezalel Smotrich

Knesset already reaches budget deficit yearly ceiling in April

 Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as lawmakers gather at the Knesset plenum to vote on a bill that would limit some Supreme Court power, in Jerusalem July 24, 2023.

Netanyahu, Smotrich blame each other for price hikes

 Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks at The Jerusalem Post conference.

Gantz: Politics are never a factor in hostage deal considerations

 Bereaved families of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip call for the continuation of the war outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, May 5, 2024.

Pro-Rafah invasion protests escalate amid reports Hamas will accept hostage deal

 Bezalel Smotrich

Finance Minister Smotrich urges PM Benjamin Netanyahu to kick Turkey out of hostage deal talks

 Bezalel Smotrich

Smotrich, Strok commend Trump for rejecting Palestinian statehood

 Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on February 29, 2024.

Netanyahu: Israel will enter Rafah with or without hostage deal

 From left to right: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz, and opposition leader Yair Lapid

Ministers threaten coalition over choice between Rafah op. and hostage deal

 A construction site for new housing in the Jewish settlement of Shiloh, in the West Bank, on June 21, 2023.

Apartheid or no Jewish majority: Israel's settlement dilemma

By TOVA HERZL
 Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich

Israeli Right slam gov't decision to allow foreign observer visits for imprisoned Nukhba terrorists

By Tal Shilo , YAKI ADAMKER , Shlomi Heler
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) meets with Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2024.

Gantz or Bennett might be the next Prime Minister, according to N13 new poll

 Benjamin Netanyahu

Iranian attack shows Israel's right-wing gov't exudes weakness

 SECURITY FORCES arrive at the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem, last month. Contrary to a narrative popularly pushed by Western leaders and the media, Palestinian terrorism isn’t just conducted by the extremists in Palestinian society, the writer argues. (20/4/2024)

What are the implications of the Israeli expansion in the West Bank

By ALIZA PILICHOWSKI
 FINANCE MINISTER Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party.

Smotrich shouted off stage at conference of right-wing newspaper