The government of Israel’s Finance Minister, Bazalel Smotrich, just declared that he wants his country to annex 85% of the West Bank as a response to Britain and France declaring their intention to recognize a Palestinian state, as we read in the New York Times:

Bezalel Smotrich said Israel should take over most of the territory, partly in response to growing international moves to recognize a Palestinian state.

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The far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called on Wednesday for the country to annex most of the occupied West Bank, where around three million Palestinians live, a move that would deepen Israel’s mounting international isolation.

Mr. Smotrich’s announcement came after a growing numbers of countries, including longstanding Israeli allies like Britain and France, said they would recognize a Palestinian state this month. They have also demanded an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Far from curbing Israeli hard-liners, however, the declarations have prompted them to double down.

On Wednesday, Mr. Smotrich said Israel should annex roughly 82 percent of the West Bank, and said this was the proper response to international moves to recognize a Palestinian state. He called it “a preventative step against the diplomatic assault that’s planned against us.”

“The main goal is to remove, once and for all, this idea of a Palestinian state,” he told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem.

Mr. Smotrich provided few details about what his plan would mean for Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed areas.

But even the threat of annexing the West Bank appeared to inflame diplomatic tensions. The United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel five years ago, issued a rare warning following Mr. Smotrich’s announcement that annexation would constitute “a red line.”

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But Mr. Smotrich provided few details on Wednesday about what his plan would mean for Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed areas.

“I have no interest in allowing them to enjoy everything that the State of Israel has to offer. We did not establish this country to make our enemies prosper,” Mr. Smotrich told reporters.

Critics in Israel of Mr. Netanyahu’s government fear that annexing the West Bank would further isolate the country, as it already faces mounting international condemnation over the war in Gaza.