Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל יוֹאֵל סְמוֹטְרִיץ׳; born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. [1]

4 days ago · Bezalel Smotrich is Israel’s far-right finance minister responsible for the controversial attempt in 2023 to reform the country’s judiciary. As a lifelong Israeli settler, he used his cabinet position during the Israel-Hamas War to choke the finances of the Palestinian Authority and to expand settlement activity in the West Bank.

Nov 30, 2022 · Smotrich has been a radical from the very outset of his career in right-wing activism and politics. Most notoriously, he was arrested by the Shin Bet’s division for suspected Jewish terrorism...

Jan 24, 2025 · Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich resigned temporarily from the government on Friday in order for Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kreuzer to leave the Knesset. Smotrich is set to return to his role as ...

Jan 19, 2025 · Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defends his decision not to leave the government and topple the coalition, arguing that he was acting out of a sense of duty to the country.

4 days ago · Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister and Religious Zionism Party head in his office, 2023. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM) Otzma Yehudit and Sm otrich’s party, R(RZP), ran in the last election on a ...

Nov 11, 2024 · Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Aug 5, 2024 · Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich implies he believes that blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is “justified and moral” even if it causes 2 million civilians to die of hunger, adding...

Sep 14, 2023 · Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich — a staunch supporter of settlements that most of the international community considers a breach of international law — assumed new powers from the military over the occupied territory this year.

May 31, 2022 · The Minister of Finance, Mr. Bezalel (Yoel) Smotrich, is an Israeli politician who serves as the Minister of Finance, a Minister in the Ministry of Defense and the Chairman of the Religious Zionist Party.