At a dramatic moment in the international arena, as the Iranian regime faces an unprecedented wave of internal protests and the fighting in Gaza has yet to be decided, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, Yisrael Ganz, called for a profound conceptual shift in regional policy. Ganz made the remarks in an interview with journalist Amichai Stein at the Jerusalem Post Miami Summit, during a diplomatic visit to the United States.
According to Ganz, recent developments are not a random sequence of events, but a strategic turning point. “Iran is the central axis of evil in the Middle East and the greatest threat to Israel and the free world,” he said. “It is the same regime that shoots and murders protesters in the streets of Tehran, while at the same time financing, inciting, and building terrorist infrastructures against Israel. What is happening in Iran today exposes just how rotten this regime is from within and how much it relies on repression and violence to survive. It must be defeated once and for all.”
Ganz stressed that the international community’s greatest mistake is the artificial separation between the different arenas. According to him, Iran is not operating only in Gaza or Lebanon, but is making a systematic effort to turn Judea and Samaria into an active front as well. “Iran’s arms do not stop at the border,” he said. “In Judea and Samaria, we are seeing armed, funded, and organized cells, the establishment of bomb-making laboratories, attempts to develop weapons, and terror infrastructures aimed at the heart of the State of Israel—Gush Dan, the Sharon region, and central Israel.” He emphasized that this is not popular or local terror, but the direct influence of the same axis of evil. “Anyone who looks at Iran, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria as three separate arenas is missing the reality. This is one war, with different fronts.”
Against this backdrop, Ganz presented the “Joshua and Caleb” plan as a comprehensive strategic response to the reality in Judea and Samaria. He said this is a practical plan intended to replace a model that has failed for decades. “This is not an ideological plan and not a declarative document,” he said. “It is a concept based on three clear pillars: zero tolerance for terror and incitement, clear Israeli security responsibility and sovereignty, and broad economic development that creates a real civilian horizon.”
Ganz explained that the plan includes the complete dismantling of the mechanisms of incitement and rewards for terror, the cancellation of salary payments to terrorists, and full Israeli security responsibility throughout Judea and Samaria, without gray areas. At the same time, it proposes a shift from an aid-based economy to an investment-based economy, through the establishment of five to six large industrial zones, the creation of approximately 200,000 jobs within five years, and the development of modern transportation, water, and electricity infrastructure. “When there is work, a salary, and a horizon, violence loses its breeding ground,” he said.
Alongside the economic dimension, Ganz emphasized that this is first and foremost a political-security move. According to him, Israel and the international community must move from a concept of conflict management to one of decisive resolution. “As long as there are armed elements, gray areas, and a lack of governance, terror returns in waves,” he said. “Clear sovereignty and a single security authority are not a slogan—they are a condition for stability. Without this, any temporary solution will collapse, just as happened in the past.”
In light of reports in the United States that the Trump administration is examining progress toward the second phase of its plan for the Gaza Strip, which would include the establishment of a temporary Palestinian mechanism to manage the Strip, Ganz warned against repeating the mistakes of the past. According to the reports, the move is intended to enable a transition from the fighting phase to a phase of governance and reconstruction, even while Hamas has not yet been disarmed and all the hostages have not yet been returned.
Ganz sharply rejected any attempt to reintegrate the Palestinian Authority, in Gaza or in Judea and Samaria. “Anyone who thinks it is possible to leave the same structures, the same ideology, and the same actors—and get a different result—is mistaken,” he said. “Whoever tries to bring the Palestinian Authority into Gaza through the back door will get Iran through the front door. And whoever wants to leave the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria will get the next October 7 there.”
According to Ganz, this is not a localized failure but a policy that has been ongoing for decades. “For more than thirty years, billions of dollars have flowed from the international community to the Palestinian Authority,” he said. “The result was not stability, but deeper incitement, the strengthening of terror mechanisms, and total dependence on foreign aid.” Ganz noted that even after the October 7 massacre, the PA continued to pay stipends to the families of terrorists, and its senior officials defined the massacre as a legitimate struggle. “It is the same inciting educational system, the same rewards for terror, and the same governance failure. This is not rehabilitation—it is a conscious return to the same failure.”
During his visit, Ganz also participated in a political conference held at Mar-a-Lago, the estate of US President Donald Trump, during which he signed, together with Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, MK Ohad Tal, and other American leaders, a declaration stating that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the Land of Israel. The document states: “We, the undersigned, affirm the deep and eternal connection of the Jewish people to the Land of the Bible, Judea and Samaria, the beating heart of humanity’s spiritual story.”
During the ceremony, Ganz presented the participants with a replica of an ancient Megillat Esther scroll created by artist Avraham Yakin, and called on President Trump “to liberate the Iranian people from the evil regime and to apply sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria.” He concluded with the blessing: “Next year in rebuilt Jerusalem, next year in a free Tehran, and next year with full sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria.”
According to Ganz, the choice now facing Israel and the international community is clear: a decisive resolution that brings stability, security, and a future—or a conscious return to failed models that have repeatedly led to cycles of violence.
Written in collaboration with Yesha Council