Smotrich made these remarks during a meeting with his far-right faction in the Knesset. "I have instructed the authorities overseeing West Bank settlements to begin professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare for extending sovereignty," he said.

He further emphasized his intention to lobby the incoming Trump administration in Washington to support such a move, referencing his long-standing campaign for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, a territory that Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We hope the incoming US administration, under President Trump, will recognize our efforts to extend sovereignty to the West Bank," Smotrich said.

Smotrich’s political ideology is rooted in religious Zionism, which blends Jewish religious beliefs with nationalist views.

He advocates for a vision of Israel that includes the West Bank as part of the Jewish state, rejecting the idea of a Palestinian state in the region.

He is a staunch opponent of the two-state solution, which has been the cornerstone of much of the international community’s efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Previously, he had argued for the return of Israeli settlements in Gaza and justifying the starvation of Gazans amid Israel's genocidal war on the strip. 

However, the new Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar tempered the expansionist zeal, acknowledging the possibility that the incoming US president could be sympathetic to such a move but stressing that the Israeli government had made no formal decision.

"A decision has not yet been made on the issue," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.

He added that discussions on extending sovereignty had not been active since President Trump's first term but that the matter could be revisited in future talks with the US.

Saar also on Monday rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state as a "realistic" goal, after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his commitment to a "sovereign" country.

"I don't think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic," the newly appointed minister said in response to a question about the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

A self-styled political rebel and once a rival of the prime minister, Saar was named Israel's new foreign minister on Tuesday. He replaced Israel Katz, who took over the defence portfolio on Tuesday after Netanyahu fired Yoav Gallant over an erosion of trust during the Gaza war. Netanyahu's office accused Gallant of adopting an "anti-Israel narrative."

The normalization drive was a part of the 2020 Abraham Accords overseen by Donald Trump, and the process could resume after the president-elect returns to the White House in January.

Abbas, in comments carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, said Sunday that "security and stability" could only be achieved with the establishment of "sovereignty and independence on the land of the Palestinian state."

The Palestinian Authority leader was speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary Monday of the death of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Abbas also reaffirmed his push for "peace, and we will continue to work to achieve it."

This follows Israel's approval, in July 2024, of the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades.

The Israeli group Peace Now said that authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometres (nearly five square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley.

The group's data indicate that it was the largest single appropriation approved at the start of the peace process since the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The land seizure, approved in June but only publicized in July, comes after the seizure of eight square kilometres (roughly three square miles) of land in the West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometres (one square mile) in February.

That made 2024 by far the peak year for Israeli land seizure in the West Bank, Peace Now said.

Israel has built well over 100 settlements across the West Bank, some of which resemble fully developed suburbs or small towns. They are home to over 500,000 Israeli settlers. The three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule.

The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Still, it is barred from operating in 60 percent of the territory, where the settlements are located.