Netanyahu spoke before supporters in Maale Adumim and said the government was working on mapping the territory to be added to the country under the Trump plan.
By World Israel News Staff
“We are in the middle of the process of mapping the territory that according to the Trump plan will be part of the State of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Saturday evening campaign event in the city of Maale Adumim, the first Jewish city in Judea and Samaria.
“We’re talking about 800 kilometers of border with many twists and turns. We will lead [the process] and President Trump will go for it. I trust him completely,” Netanyahu said. “We’ve been waiting for this since 1967.”
President Donald Trump revealed his much-anticipated plan for Mideast peace on Jan. 28 in a White House ceremony with Netanyahu at his side.
The plan offers Israel the chance to annex areas in Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. The plan was greeted with a mixed reaction from Israel’s right, with some calling it a golden opportunity for Israel to extend its territory and others rejecting it for proposing the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu stressed that Israeli annexation is not dependent on Palestinian approval.
“The deal of the century is a historic revolution. If the Palestinians will carry out the demands on them or not, Israel will gain American backing for applying Israeli law in the Jordan Valley and in the northern Dead Sea and in all the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, on all without exception,” he said.
“Without Judea and Samaria our existence is in danger,” Netanyahu said. “Without a homeland we have no existence. We are detached. We have no past, no future. This is our identity and heritage and here is our future. We are here and here we will stay forever. ”
“This strong connection of our people to Judea and Samaria was immediately apparent to me, even before the Six Day War,” Netanyahu said.
“Even after the victory, it was clear to me that a fundamental thing was missing – no country in the world, not even one was willing to acknowledge our sovereignty in the heart of our country.
“Not one recognized Jerusalem as the capital of our people. The people of the Bible returned to the land of the Bible and even countries that knew the historic truth and believed in the Bible didn’t recognize it.
“And worse – all the plans proposed by a series of American governments related to Jerusalem as ‘occupied territory,'” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu called on former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, leader of the main opposition party, Blue and White, to fire advisers who had compared Trump to Hitler.
“President Trump is the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Netanyahu said.
Columnist Caroline Glick wrote on Sunday that shortly before Gantz left to meet with Trump in Washington, “his top campaign strategists, Ronen Tzur and Joel Benenson had both separately published multiple posts on Twitter viciously attacking Trump. Both men compared him to Hitler, called him a Russian agent and a racist.”
Gantz, who has publicly supported Trump’s plan, didn’t address Netanyahu’s remarks concerning his advisers, but tweeted on Saturday night in response to the prime minister’s speech:
“Netanyahu, there is no longer a right-wing person who believes in your visions of the overthrow of Hamas and annexation of territories. You have lost control of security, health, and even Likudniks already understand that they must make progress.
“In a month, your trial will begin and Israel will be delivered from your lies.”
Yemina party leader and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, representing the right-wing of Israel’s political map, urged Netanyahu on Saturday to apply sovereignty immediately.
“There will never be a better time to apply sovereignty in our land. I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to bring the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria for an immediate vote in the government,” he said.
“Prime Minister, we stand with you! Without sovereignty, we will have a Palestinian terror state with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.