The Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, chaired by MK Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), convened on Tuesday for a debate dealing with repercussions of the scenario of application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Subcommittee Chair MK Sukkot said at the start of the debate, “In order to eradicate terrorism and achieve a decisive outcome for the conflict here, we need to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. That way we will sever the hope and uproot the motivation. We will win the struggle by application of sovereignty in the long term, and in the short term too we will show our enemies that the story is finished and there is only one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—a Jewish state.”
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich: “I am now coming from an event marking the 20th anniversary of the expulsion from Gush Katif, and I don’t have to expand on the close linkage, the crime and punishment and the correction to which we are all committed. Application of sovereignty is of diplomatic, security, economic, settlement and democratic significance, and also of moral and Zionist significance.
“We are advancing this initiative in two stages—one is de facto sovereignty. In order to do that, we need to carry out an entire series of processes, some of which are awareness-related, in order to normalize the settlements. The other part is internal processes within the system, so that when the formal act of application of sovereignty happens, they will be ready. Very thorough work has been done, both administratively and legally, and we are ready to press the button today.
“I would like to take advantage of this platform to call upon the Prime Minister—make the decision, have courage. Jewish history is behind you, and on your shoulders. We have full support from the US administration—I am saying this with confidence—and it is only our decision. There is no time more suitable than these days to convene the Government and make the decision. Not only will the sky not fall, it will hold up much more firmly,” said minister smotrich.
MK Amit Halevi (Likud): “A central component of absolute victory is our sovereignty over the land. It is in the name of that [cause] that the enemy went to war, and for this reason that is the way to overcome it. The time has come to advance from declarations to actions, and the sooner the better.”
MK Dan Illouz (Likud): “We are seeing a great deal of international pressure that has increased over the past weeks, including from France, with regard to recognition of a Palestinian state. I believe that application of sovereignty may cause momentary condemnations, but in the big picture—and I say this as a person who travels around the world quite a bit—this will only strengthen our diplomatic status, since we will finally quell the doubt.”
Yesha Council CEO Omer Rahamim: “We have to think how to prevent a similar event to October 7 in Kfar Saba, Ra’anana or the seam zone localities. To avoid reaching such a scenario, we must implement the important declarative decision made by the knesset plenum last week, and move on to a practical decision. We have to pass the ball to the Government and the political echelon. Even though this is a Government that we hold in high regard, we will not cut the Government any slack. Now sovereignty has to be applied in practice, and this has to be demanded clearly.”
Yehuda Eliyahu, head of the Settlement Directorate in the Ministry of Defense: “Close to 550,000 Israeli citizens in Judea and Samaria live under military rule; this means that the government ministries don’t handle them, but rather the Civil Administration. This creates many problems on the ground. Military rule is not mean to last for decades, and this has heavy prices. If the Government of Israel decides to go in this direction, the Ministry of Defense is prepared. We have already begun staff work that includes many aspects and issues, to which attention has also been devoted on an operative level, and we can submit the material to the committee in an orderly fashion.”
Lt.-Col. Shmulik Cohen of the Civil Administration: “Until now, no instructions have been given by the political echelon. If such instructions are given, orderly staff work will be conducted.” A representative of the Ministry of Justice said, “We also haven’t been asked to prepare for such a scenario. If we receive such a request, we will prepare with all the relevant agencies.” A Ministry of Construction and Housing official said, “We see a need to advance regional plans for building cities, which provide a comprehensive response supporting housing, commerce and employment.”
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