Proposed legislation to be submitted to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation Dec. 9 would eliminate Israel’s civil administration in the West Bank. The law, proposed by Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich (HaBayit HaYehudi), already has the support of many of the coalition’s members and ministers, even though it is not based on any need to reduce the defense budget or improve services provided to West Bank residents and make them more efficient. It is little more than another step toward the annexation of territory in the West Bank.

According to the proposed law, powers now held by the civil administration will be transferred to the relevant government ministries, but only for the Jewish residents (West Bank settlers). “Government services for residents of the region who are not Israeli citizens will be granted via the various Regional Liaison administrations,” states Clause 5 of the proposed law. Furthermore, the bill states that the finance minister, in consultation with the Civil Service Commission, will assess the new standards and budgets needed by each ministry. The regional representation offices of the military administration in the West Bank will fall under the responsibility of the different ministries.

Smotrich explained via Twitter what lies behind his proposed law. “The civil administration should be shut down immediately,” he tweeted. “The residents of Judea and Samaria are not fourth-class citizens. There is no reason they should be ruled by military officers rather than by government ministries.”

Smotrich is well aware of how tenuous the situation now is. With a narrow coalition of just 61 seats, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also defense minister, has been courting the settler vote incessantly. In response, Smotrich issued a blatant threat: “If the defense minister blocks this, he must not be allowed to get a single vote in Judea and Samaria in the next election.”