Likud to Propose Sovereignty in Yehudah and Shomron

At a meeting Sunday, the Likud Central Committee is set to take a vote that will approve Israel’s imposing sovereignty over Yehudah and Shomron. The vote, if it passes, will obligate Likud MKs to promote imposing Israeli sovereignty on at least Area C of Yehudah and Shomron, and all of the Jordan Valley. The meeting will be attended by nearly all Likud MKs and ministers. It is not yet clear if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will attend.

Promoters of the proposal have nearly 1,000 signatures on a petition approving the idea, and in recent days numerous Likud ministers and MKs have expressed support for it as well, among them Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, and others. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin urged Likud members to support the proposal, saying, “I am convinced that this declaration will be another stepping stone towards actualizing our inalienable rights in Yehudah and Shomron. I have no doubt that this struggle will end in success, and that our truth will emerge.”

According to the proposal, “on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Yehudah, Shomron and Yerushalayim, our eternal capital, the Likud Central Committee calls on Likud elected officials to act to allow unlimited construction and to impose Israeli law and sovereignty on Israeli towns in Yehudah and Shomron, located in Area C.”

Opposition MKs expressed sharp criticism of the proposal. If the proposal is approved, said opposition head MK Yitzchak Herzog (Zionist Camp), it “will go down in history as another irresponsible and impractical decision by the Likud. It is obvious that the prime minister will not be able to act on this decision, and it will just create tension with the current administration in the U.S., the most favorable ever to Israel, and create further disappointment on security, political and demographic issues on both sides. This is nothing more than cheap populism that will not enhance Israel’s security.”