Israel must annex West Bank prior to Trump exit, coalition chair says
Palestinians can continue to live here, he explained as long as they do not participate in terrorism.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFThe candles are lit on stage for a Hanukkah ceremony held virtually in the Jordan Valley.(photo credit: MEIR ELIPOUR)
Israel must take advantage of this period before US President Donald Trump leaves office to apply sovereignty to all the West Bank settlements, Coalition Chairman MK Miki Zohar (Likud) said on Thursday, during a special virtual event to mark the first night of Hanukkah.“Israel has to work to apply sovereignty in the Jordan Valley. It has to take this opportunity to apply sovereignty in many of the settlements, if not all of the settlements,” Zohar said.“We have to take advantage of this opportunity, which may not return again,” he said, adding that this was also the moment to legalize the West Bank outposts which he referred to as the “young settlements.”Zohar said, “I hope this [sovereignty] will happen before the transition of the [US] government and before the elections that we know are getting closer.“I have spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about this and will speak to him about it,” Zohar said, adding that he has tried to explain to Netanyahu that this is something that must happen now.Zohar made his comment as part of a virtual event which involved 35 parliamentarians and ministers, and was sponsored by the Jordan Valley Regional Council and the Sovereignty Movement. It included a candle lighting ceremony in the Jordan Valley.It’s part of a new campaign to push forward on the annexation of the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea.Earlier this year Israel and the United States agreed to suspend plans to annex West Bank settlements in exchange for normalization deals between Israel and both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.In the aftermath of Trump’s electoral loss, right-wing politicians and activists have renewed their campaign for annexation now, fearing that such a move would be impossible once US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.If the West Bank settlements can not be annexed in their entirety, then the Right would like to at least see the issue of the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea move forward.Zohar said he wants the entire issue to be dealt with now.Netanyahu is the one who placed the idea of sovereignty on Trump’s table. “We have seen that in the US government today there is a lot of will to help Israel in these matters and we do not know what will happen after there is a change of administration,’ he said.“I hope we don’t miss this opportunity,” he said.Zohar alluded to the promise Netanyahu and the Likud Party made to the public during the last elections to apply sovereignty and said that it had an obligation to the Israeli public to move forward on the matter.He charged that the Blue and White Party, who are members of the coalition, is opposed to the application of sovereignty and has worked to thwart it. He also blamed them for the specter of a fourth election in two years.“Should we be dragged to elections, the public would have to decide what it wants, I hope this time it will choose the Right,” he said.Zohar dismissed the possibility that a Palestinian state would be created. “We can’t allow the creation of a Palestinian state because it would lead to terror,” he said.After that, “we do not have the right to cede even a small portion of the Land of Israel,” Zohar said. Palestinians can continue to live here, he explained as long as they do not participate in terror. Zohar did not address any of the thorny issues of citizenship and or self-rule.The Sovereignty Movement also released results of a poll of 824 Jewish Israelis conducted on November 30, that has a margin of error of 4.2%.It found that 56% supported the application of sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea and some 47% felt that Israel should do so prior to Trump’s departure from the White House.Some 53.2% said they felt it would improve stability and security in the area and 54.7% said they would move forward on the matter even if the Palestinians disagreed. When asked if they would move to the Jordan Valley once sovereignty was applied, only 10.9% said they would consider it.
