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Jerusalem Affairs Minister supports sovereignty plan despite proviso for Palestinian state

“We will help the prime minister to apply sovereignty to all Judea and Samaria territories, of course without a Palestinian state, but with joy for this special historic moment,” Peretz said.

By World Israel News staff

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Rafi Peretz said he is in favor of applying Israeli sovereignty over settlements in Judea and Samaria even if it means having to negotiate a Palestinian state, the Srugim news website reported Monday.

Peretz was interviewed during a visit to the town of Beit El, where he had visited a nearby archaeological dig .

“It is very exciting to see our deep roots… it all began here,” Peretz said. “Our sovereignty has been here for thousands of years. We will continue sovereignty here, we will continue it in all localities.”

Peretz said he supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to apply Israeli sovereignty to settlements in Judea and Samaria starting on July 1, even though doing so as part of the Trump peace plan obligates Israel to negotiate a future Palestinian state, something that Peretz has repeatedly stated his objections to.

“We will help the prime minister to apply sovereignty to all Judea and Samaria territories, of course without a Palestinian state, but with joy for this special historic moment,” Peretz said.

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Peretz, who heads the religious Jewish Home Party, split off from the right-wing Yamina faction last month to join Netanyahu’s national unity government.

Over the weekend the Shomron Regional Council released a video protesting the plan for recognition of a Palestinian state under Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” Israel National News reported.

The video notes that previous Israeli leaders Menachem Begin, Levi Eshkol and David Ben Gurion also acted unilaterally without American approval. In 1981 Begin applied Israeli law over the Golan Heights, while in 1967 Eshkol applied Israeli sovereignty over liberated Jerusalem and Ben Gurion in 1948 when he applied sovereignty over western Jerusalem.

The video attacks arguments of those who support the Trump plan and claim that the Palestinians will never meet American demands listed in the peace proposal.