Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich Will Meet With Treasury Secretary Bessent In Washington

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will head to Washington in the coming days to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and discuss economic and political cooperation, Smotrich's spokesperson said Thursday.

Smotrich was invited by Bessent in a call two weeks ago, said Smotrich's spokesperson, Eitan Fuld, and they'll meet around the weekend of March 8-9.

It would mark the first in-person talks between Smotrich, a fervent settler advocate at the helm of Israel's settlement planning apparatus, and a Trump administration official - and it could have major implications for U.S. policy toward the settlements, which the international community largely considers illegal.

"We're strengthening the ties, the working relations," Fuld said. "There are also professional issues on the agenda."

Smotrich, a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition , supports the reoccupation of Gaza , the rebuilding of Jewish settlements that were removed in 2005, and what he describes as the voluntary migration of large numbers of Palestinians out of the territory.