Haredi Minister Calls for a Return to Gaza
The leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party Yitzhak Goldknopf, toured the Gaza border on Thursday with Daniella Weiss, the founder of the right-wing organization Nachala.
“Today I toured the Gaza Strip settlements. Jewish settlement here is the answer to the terrible [October 7] massacre and the answer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague who, instead of caring for the 101 hostages, chose to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the minister of defense,” Goldknopf tweeted.
Nachala thanked him for accepting the organization’s invitation to “tour and observe the future settlement locations in Gaza.”
“Together, we will build Jewish cities in Gaza, which will bring down the prices of apartments in the country with the understanding that without settlement, there is no security. Our Gaza, forever,” the group stated.
In May, Goldknopf released a video message endorsing an Independence Day march demanding renewed Israeli settlement in the Strip.
“It is very important to identify with this march,” he said at the time.
In August, Goldknopf called for a dramatic expansion of settlement activity while accompanying Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock and Yossi Dagan, chairman of the Samaria Regional Council, on a visit to the recently legalized Evyatar outpost in the West Bank.
“For many years we were told that the settlements and the outposts are the obstacle to peace, and the settlers were slandered,” he declared then, arguing that Israel’s response to October 7 “must be to settle as much of the Land of Israel as possible.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was beginning to show willingness to promoting Palestinian migration out of Gaza.
Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Ben-Gvir said the idea of Jewish settlements in Gaza was a welcomed one.
“After all we must remember that this could be the greatest punishment for what was done to us on Oct. 7,” he said. “The only times we have won over our enemies was when we took territory from them. Conquering Gaza is definitely an idea, but I must admit it would not be enough for me. I want to encourage migration and I think Palestinians should be able to leave willingly to “their countries.”
He said he saw on television a man in Gaza begging to be allowed to leave. “I think there are many like him. I am working hard to convince the prime minister that this should happen and am beginning to see some openness. I hope he will eventually understand that is the only way,” Ben-Gvir said.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel should occupy Gaza and “encourage” half of the Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinians to emigrate within two years.
In 2005, the Israeli government forcibly removed almost 10,000 Jewish residents from Gush Katif, paving the way for Hamas to take control.
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