Day after annexation declaration, Netanyahu seeks to legalize Jordan Valley settlement

The prime minister says that he has “been working for years” on extending Israeli sovereignty to areas captured by Israel in 1967.

By World Israel News Staff 

A day after pledging to extend Israeli law to the Jordan Valley if he forms the next Israeli government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he would ask the cabinet on Sunday to approve the legalization of Mevo’ot Yericho, located in the Jordan Valley area.

Currently, it has the status of an unauthorized settlement outpost.

Netanyahu took advantage of his address to the Knesset to confirm that he had “told the U.S. over the past few days” about his upcoming election pledge regarding the imposition of Israeli sovereignty in the region which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

“I want to request from you a clear mandate to extend Israeli sovereignty on all the settlements,” the prime minister told the Israeli people in a televised address on Tuesday.

Netanyahu announced his intention to immediately extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area should he be re-elected.

The prime minister said that he would wait, out of respect for President Donald Trump, to annex the areas of Judea and Samaria in question until after the president presents his peace plan.

Speaking in the Knesset on Wednesday, he denied that his announcement was an act of electioneering, saying that he has “been working for years” to set the stage. “It is a gradual process,” said Netanyahu.

Yemina leader Ayelet Shaked said on Wednesday that extending Israeli sovereignty is a decision that can be taken on the ministerial level, even by a transition government, and does not require Knesset legislation, and therefore she does not know why the prime minister didn’t already carry out the move now instead of just declaring his intention to do so.

“This declaration will remain a declaration if we are not strong and significant in the government,” Shaked told Kan public radio on Wednesday, referring to her hope to join a Netanyahu-led government coalition to promote a right-wing agenda after next Tuesday’s Knesset election.