Smotrich Vows "Jewish Settlements Will Rise in Gaza" in Election-Night Speech

Standing before supporters at Religious Zionism's election headquarters in Jerusalem early Wednesday, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a direct promise about territory Israel withdrew from two decades ago.

"Jewish settlements will rise in Gaza."

Smotrich made the statement, according to Israeli media, after exit polls from Tuesday's parliamentary election showed gains for Palestinian parties and raised the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition could lose its majority. Addressing that result directly, Smotrich said he saw "the Arabs are celebrating" and told supporters, "we will not let them celebrate," accusing opposition and Palestinian voters of believing they could reverse what he called Israel's "settlement revolution" in the occupied West Bank.

The remarks extend that claim into Gaza, territory Israel evacuated in 2005 when it dismantled settlements there and withdrew roughly 8,000 settlers along with its permanent ground forces. Since the war launched after October 2023, Smotrich and allied far-right politicians have repeatedly called for re-establishing a settler presence in the territory. In September, Smotrich called for annexing land under Israeli military control up to the ceasefire's so-called Yellow Line, and he has separately pushed to dismantle the Palestinian Authority and expand settlements across the West Bank.

The pledge was not made in isolation. Le Monde reported Tuesday that roughly 20 Israeli families have set up an unauthorized encampment called "Gaza Pioneers" near the territory's border, backed by the far-right Nachala settler movement, with the stated goal of preparing ground for settlements inside Gaza once conditions allow. The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements on occupied Palestinian territory is illegal under international law.

Smotrich's party, Religious Zionism, running jointly with Moshe Feiglin's Zehut, was projected by exit polls to take six or seven of the Knesset's 120 seats, a result that would keep the party above the electoral threshold after months of polling that suggested it might fall short. Final results remained pending, and neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot appeared to have reached the 61 seats needed to govern, leaving Smotrich's influence over any coalition, and his ability to act on the Gaza pledge, unresolved.

The election campaign itself featured repeated warnings from Netanyahu and far-right allies about turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel, with Netanyahu pointing to queues at polling stations in Arab communities and suggesting an opposition win could leave a government reliant on Palestinian parties. Palestinian political leaders called the rhetoric racist while welcoming the higher turnout.