Members of U.S.-Israel Committee to Map Israeli Sovereignty Announced

After U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said last week that Israel must not annex areas of Yehudah and Shomron without American consent, and that Israel should wait for the completion of a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee, the names of the members of this joint committee were announced.

Yisrael Hayom reported that a senior official in the Trump administration confirmed the names of the members of the joint committee which will work on mapping the areas over which Israeli sovereignty will be applied under the “Deal of the Century.”

The U.S. members of the committee, appointed by President Donald Trump, include Ambassador David Friedman; Friedman’s senior adviser Aryeh Lightstone; and Scott Leith, who is the director of Israeli and Palestinian affairs in the National Security Council.

The Trump appointments follow the Israeli appointments on Friday, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office Ronen Peretz.

The committee will draw a map of the specific areas which will be under Israeli sovereignty in Yehudah, Shomron and the Jordan Valley.

Following the announcement of the committee members, Ambassador Friedman tweeted: “Honored to serve on the Joint Committee. Looking forward to getting started right away.”

Both U.S. and Israeli sources have noted that the map presented by the White House at the plan’s unveiling in January was a “conceptual map” and did not reflect exact borders, which Trump has repeatedly said will be decided by the parties involved, and not by the U.S. administration.