Likud minister Galant: No to Palestinian state, yes to sovereignty in Judea and Samaria

“I say clearly, ‘No to a Palestinian state.’ This is the place of the Jewish, Zionist and democratic State of Israel,” Yoav Galant declared.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Minister of Aliyah and Integration Yoav Galant expressed a firm position regarding the territories Israel conquered in the Six Day War during a Sunday tour of the Binyamin region in Judea and Samaria, speaking out in favor of sovereignty and nixing the idea of a Palestinian state.

In a news clip on the nationalist-religious Srugim website in which the whipping wind competed with his voice, Galant, former commander of the IDF southern command, stated categorically, “From the hills of Samaria, I say clearly, ‘No to a Palestinian state.’ It’s impossible to establish more than one state west of the Jordan. This is the place of the Jewish, Zionist and democratic State of Israel.”

He stressed the Jewish People’s historical rights to the land, going all the way back to their forefathers.

The minister, who joined the Likud last week, said the party was “working to apply sovereignty in all of Judea and Samaria and to strengthen the settlement enterprise” throughout the country, which he emphasized was “the only key to holding onto [our] sovereignty and Zionism.”

Galant echoed several colleagues who spoke last Thursday during a panel titled, “From Occupation to Sovereignty.” That discussion kicked off the three-day Leumiada, a nationalist event held in Eilat every year that is unofficially a Likud get-together of ministers, MKs, wannabe MKs, central committee members and supporters.

Organized by the founders of Women in Green, who began the Sovereignty Movement seven years ago, it featured well-known names like Welfare Minister Chaim Katz, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren (Kulanu).

Oren – present even though he is not running for a position in the Likud – emphasized the importance of sticking to the principle that “every single millimeter of the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel; this is correct historically, ideologically and politically wise as well.”

On a practical level, he said, the first thing Israel should do is demand American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights as “compensation” for their withdrawal from Syria, followed by recognition of the settlement blocs.

Katz and Hotovely spoke of the Likud central committee’s unanimous vote a little over a year ago to apply sovereignty over the Jewish villages in Judea and Samaria, with Katz comparing the movement to hitting a wall.

“We must continue to strike the wall and widen the crack that we have made in it because we have no choice. This has been our Land for thousands of years and the time has come that sovereignty should be applied in it. I will do everything in my power for this and so that Judea, Samaria and Gaza will be an integral part of the State of Israel,” he said.

Hotovely also noted the diplomatic window of opportunity that cannot be missed. “We are approaching the point with the Trump administration – which has already said that the settlements are legal, legitimate and not an obstacle to peace – a point where the next subject is the application of sovereignty.”

Judea and SamariaSovereigntyYoav Galant