Following a month of silence on the issue, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday at a Likud faction meeting that the State of Israel’s ability to apply full legal sovereignty to the West Bank will depend on approval from the United States.
“For me, the application of sovereignty has not been dropped from the agenda,” he told the lawmakers. “It depends on the White House.”
The coalition agreement between the Likud and Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue & White faction set July 1, 2020 as the earliest possible date for which Netanyahu could bring extending Israeli sovereignty to the territories to a vote. But that agreement limits the application of sovereignty to only 30% of the West Bank, in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s two-state “Deal of the Century.”
July 1 came and went without Netanyahu making any moves towards annexation, causing the prime minister to lose support from much of his party’s lawmakers and voter base. He had maintained silence on the issue until this week’s Likud faction meeting.
Trump’s Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz had been in Israel to meet with Netanyahu prior to July 1 and it is widely believed that he instructed the prime minister not to take any action.
Several reports have indicated that the Trump administration has taken a step back from engagement in the region due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, racial justice protests in the US and upcoming presidential elections in November.
Yesha (Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria) Council Chairman David Elḥayani responded on Monday to Netanyahu’s statements, saying that Israel should unilaterally apply sovereignty without a green light from Washington.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the one who repeatedly promised to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, this decision will not be made Washington, but in Jerusalem,” he said.
“This is your decision alone and you must go through with it. Keep your word and begin to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria immediately.”
Elḥayani may not appreciate how correct he actually is.
The entire national conversation over legally incorporating the West Bank into the State of Israel had been taking place within the context of US permission.
Perceiving a need for Washington’s approval to apply Israeli sovereignty to the cradle of Jewish civilization demonstrates the extent to which Israeli leaders, as well as an alarmingly large portion of the national camp, suffer from a deep psychological subjugation to the forces of empire.
Whether or not Trump decides to allow Netanyahu to annex any territories won from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War, the very notion of Israel needing US permission to apply sovereignty over Judea, Samaria or the Jordan Valley exposes the extent to which even our political independence within pre-67 borders hasn’t been fully internalized.
Those political leaders and organizers who see the West Bank as a central part of the Jewish homeland must pursue an independent policy that works towards the attainment of Israeli sovereignty over the territories outside the framework of any foreign agendas or interests.
Netanyahu is lying to us again. He never intended to apply sovereignty and he is trying to find excuses not to do it. This US administration is more pro sovereignty than Netanyahu is and we are getting tired of his lies. Pipi go home you leftist loser!!!