Likud MKs participate in far-right conference urging resettlement of Gaza

Hundreds of far-right Israelis have responded to an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud Party to attend a conference calling for the re-establishment of Jewish settlement in Gaza.

The event was attended by senior cabinet ministers, including firebrands Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, respectively Finance Minister and National Security Minister.

There was no attempt to disguise Likud participation in the conference — in fact, there was a Likud succah at the event, which took place on the Gaza border. This was despite an interview given by the Prime Minister to CNN in May this year, in which he rejected the idea of Gaza re-settlement, and said as much when he addressed the US Congress in July. He told CNN that the re-establishment of settlements in Gaza was “never on the cards.

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“I said so openly [and] some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” Netanyahu said.

But Likud sent as many as 10 Knesset members to the “Preparing to Settle Gaza” conference, the second to be held by a loose coalition of far-right groups headed by settler leader Daniella Weiss’s Nachala organisation. The first such event was held in January this year and attracted international condemnation.

Ms Weiss, speaking in English so that there was no room for misunderstanding, told a group of foreign journalists that Gazans had “lost their right” to live in the territory in the wake of the October 7 massacre and would not remain there. She predicted that within a year journalists would see Jewish re-settlement of Gaza, and that no Arabs would remain in the territory. She claimed that there were 700 families “who are ready right now” to establish new settlements in Gaza, should the opportunity arise.

Itamar Ben Gvir said that “encouraging emigration” of Palestinian residents of the territory was the best and “most ethical” solution to the conflict. He was echoed by Smotrich, who told reporters on his way to the conference that Gaza was “part of the Land of Israel” and that “without settlements, there is no security”.

May Golan, a Likud minister, declared that “taking territory” from Arabs was what “hurts them most”.

Police prevented anti-government protesters from entering the conference area itself. Their protests were aimed at the organisers for holding such an event when residents of the area were still being held hostage in Gaza.

Weiss said that Nachala had set up six “settlement groups” comprising a total of 700 families “who are ready right now” to establish new settlements in Gaza, should the opportunity arise.

Among those attending the event was Haim Waltzer, a former resident of Gush Khatif until Ariel Sharon evacuated Israelis from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Waltzer now lives in the recently legalised West Bank outpost of Evyatar.

He said: “Another reason why we want to settle Gaza is because I believe that this is the only thing that will bring peace,” he said.

“We are a nation of peace, we only want peace. But I don’t think we have a partner for peace. The only way there will be quiet in Tel Aviv is if we settle Gaza — that is the only way they will feel defeated. The only thing they care about is land. [Taking it away] and settling there is the only thing that will make them feel that we have won and they have been defeated.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, did not comment on the conference, but told media outlets that he was busy fielding congratulation calls on his 75th birthday from foreign leaders