West Bank settlers cheered on Wednesday after the results of the U.S. presidential race showed Donald Trump heading back to a second term in the White House.
"One Strong Trump – One Jewish State", Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin regional council, said in a post on X indicating the expectations of the settlers from Trump's next term. "This is a historic opportunity that must not be missed," some said.
The settler movement is poised to legalize outposts under the direction of far-right Bezalel Smotrich who serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry along with his role as Finance Minister.
Smotrich plans to expand settlement constructions, lift restrictions on settlers and begin imposing Israeli sovereignty on some of the areas. He also intends to begin establishing outposts in the norther parts of the Gaza Strip. With the removal of Yoav Gallant who was fired as defense minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Smotrich's path is even clearer.
Leaders in the settler community have strengthened times with key figures in republican circles. Mike Pompeo who served as Trump's Secretary of State during his first term, is a frequent visitor to the West Bank settlement.
Trump's ambassador to Israel David Freidman was a recent guest at the book launch for Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan's new book outlining his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that he said must be solved by extending Israeli law to the West Bank settlements.
Although Trump has not named his next cabinet, it is clear to the settlers that the doors in Washington will be open to them. Smotrich along with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer established a system of dealing with the Americans. The obstacles placed in his path by the Biden administration will soon be removed, the settlers hope.
Leaders of the settler community will likely travel to the U.S. shortly. Trump was close to approving Israel's annexation of the West Bank in his last term and refrained from giving Netanyahu the green light only upon the advice of his son-in-law Jared Kushner. There was also intensive construction in the settlements during those years and the administration at the time did not block plans to advance settlements in E1 and Hebron, where democratic administrations blocked them.
But alongside the optimism some worry that Trump's next term will not be the same as his first. He is a businessman after making deals and no one knows now, how he will respond to Israel's ongoing wars and the question of a Palestinian state.