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Netanyahu: We will annex all the settlements in Judea and Samaria

Netanyahu said he would annex all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. 

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will annex all the settlements in Judea and Samaria during a visit to the town of Elkana in Samaria on Sunday at a ceremony to start the new school year.

“With God’s help we will apply Jewish sovereignty over all communities as part of the land of Israel and the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said during the inauguration of a school for gifted students. The school will be named after Netanyahu’s brother, Jonathan, who fell leading the Israeli rescue team at Entebbe in 1976.

In making his declaration, Netanyahu was repeating a campaign promise he made shortly before the April elections. He defined settlements then as all Jewish communities in the region – not just major blocs, but isolated towns as well.

“We are building new homes here. This is a new home that is an old home. This is the old, original home of the Jewish people and we will build more in Elkana,” the prime minister said.

“We will not uproot anyone here. There will be no more Gush Katif; there will be no more uprooting, and with God’s help we will apply Jewish sovereignty over all communities as part of the land of Israel and the State of Israel,” he said.

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Annexing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is a popular move within the Likud party and among right-wing parties.

Likud MK and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein praised Netanyahu’s declaration.

“I congratulate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his important announcement,” he said. “As I’ve often said, applying sovereignty is an application of our historical right, and also sends an important message to all terror organizations seeking to uproot our presence throughout the Land of Israel.”

Former Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who is running in the Yemina (or “Rightward”) party, also welcomed Netanyahu’s pledge.

Netanyahu and Likud party officials have been sending messages for months that the time is ripe to annex Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

In February, 2018, Netanyahu said at a Likud faction that he was in close contact with the Trump administration regarding the possibility of applying Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.

The U.S. quickly denied that it was discussing possible annexation at that time. “Reports that the United States discussed with Israel an annexation plan for the West Bank are false,” said Josh Raffel, a White House spokesman.