The central committee of Israel’s ruling Likud party has ratified a proposed resolution that urges their MKs in the government coalition to claim sovereignty over areas under Israeli control in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
According to the ratified text: “The Likud central committee calls upon the elected officials of the Likud party to work in order to allow a free hand in building in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley as well as enforcing the rule of Israeli Law and sovereignty over all of the regions under Israeli control in these regions.”
Several leading politicians supported the resolution, including senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet like Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
Netanyahu, however, skipped the vote, and his office declined to comment.
The 1,500 member central committee is only an advisory body, and Sunday night’s vote did not reflect an official policy change. But its decisions reflect the prevailing opinions in Netanyahu’s party.
The Palestinians called the Likud vote “an outrageous violation” of international resolutions and “could not be taken without the full support of the U.S. administration.”
Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog called the Likud decision “irresponsible, impractical and unnecessary.”
President Donald Trump has said he hopes to broker what he calls the “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinians, and he has appointed a high-level team, headed by his son in law and adviser Jared Kushner, to come up with a peace plan. But after nearly a year on the job, they still have not floated a proposal.
In a departure from his predecessors, Trump last month said he was upending decades of U.S. policy and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Labor and Social Welfare Minister Chaim Katz said: “50 years ago we freed the land that was the heritage of our forefathers in Judea, Samaria, greater Jerusalem, the Cave of the Patriarchs, Rachel’s Tomb and the Western Wall. Unfortunately, today after 50 years, over half a million Israeli citizens who fulfill all of their requirements to the state in terms of taxes and military service, face incredible hardships when it comes to building their homes or achieving personal security.”
Katz continued: “The time has come where the IDF is not needed to allow the construction of a kindergarten, a road or the fixing of street lamps. The Likud central committee has voted in a historic rule to encourage Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the greater Jerusalem area. These regions are irrevocably parts of the state of Israel. They will remain so forever.”
Erdan said the Likud party was responsible for annexing Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the 1980s, and it would do so with West Bank settlements as well. “Our right to the land of Israel begins with Judea and Samaria,” he said.
“Two states for two peoples is a concept that has disappeared from the world,” Science Minister Ofir Akunis was quoted as saying by the Haaretz daily. “And to my joy, U.S. President Trump is sitting in the White House and does not accept this mistaken concept.”
Education Minister Naftali Bennett praising the Likud party for “adopting” his Jewish Home party’s plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements.
(AP / YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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After having its hands tied for so many years by Obama and his ilk thinking that building more homes will deter peace, it is time to begin to rebuild at a rapid rate so that the very high prices of homes and apts in Israel can go down.
Peace has nothing to do with our building or not building; it has to do with the PA deciding to abandon their lies and move forward in peace for peace. But the Arabs have NEVER been able to do this.