Yesha Council head, Beit El mayor say now is the time to apply Israeli sovereignty to disputed territory, expand settlements, push to end Biden’s sanctions on extremist settlers
In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on Wednesday, two settler leaders called for Israel to annex the West Bank, describing Trump’s election as a new opportunity to expand Israeli sovereignty to the disputed territory. The demand was also backed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Israel Ganz, head of the Yesha Council umbrella organization of settlement municipalities, claimed annexing the West Bank would bring stability and “true peace” to the region, while Beit El Nayor Shai Alon echoed that sentiment and also said now was the time to “build widely and extensively” in the territory.
They also both called for an end to the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on extremist settlers and illegal settlement outposts in the past year that have angered the settlement movement.
Otzma Yehudit party leader Ben Gvir, himself a resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement, said in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday that “this is the time for sovereignty.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to annex all the settlements and the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank in 2020, asserting that he would be doing so with the agreement of the Trump administration, but was eventually forced to back away from the idea as Trump sought to advance his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
“We have merited a president who loves Israel and loves Judea and Samaria,” said Ganz at the launch of a new “Trump” wine label at the Psagot winery on Wednesday, using the Biblical names for the West Bank region.
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