Smotrich urges defiance of High Court over Samaria camps

(Oct. 12, 2026 / JNS)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday urged the country’s prime minister and defense minister to order the Israel Defense Forces not to cooperate with the High Court of Justice over the possible return of residents to camps in northern Samaria.

“I call on the prime minister and my colleague, the defense minister, to instruct the IDF not to cooperate with the court and not to allow the terror camps to be reestablished,” Smotrich said. The Religious Zionism Party leader also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry.

He accused Justices Isaac Amit, Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub of endangering Israel’s security and tying the military’s hands, calling security matters “nonjusticiable.”

The court on Sunday asked the state to provide timelines for measures that could allow residents to return to the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps, where Israeli forces have recently conducted extensive counterterrorism operations. The judges did not order residents’ immediate return and gave the state until Nov. 23 to respond.

Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz on Monday condemned the court’s decision concerning the return of displaced Palestinians to camps in northern Samaria, warning that it could lead to another Oct. 7, 2023-style attack.

“The High Court is harming Israel’s security, bringing about the next Oct. 7 with its own hands, in Netanya, Kfar Yona and Afula,” he said in a Hebrew-language statement.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also took aim at the High Court in a post on X, without explicitly mentioning the ruling. “Only Tally Gotliv as justice minister will bring the High Court back down to its proper size!” he wrote.