The time is now to decide fate of Judea and Samaria, says opposition MK

An Israeli lawmaker says Israel must look at Trump’s presidency as an opportunity to made a clear decision on Judea and Samaria. 

Opposition member of Knesset (MK) Tzipi Livni of the Zionist Union said that the election of US President Donald Trump presents Israel with the opportunity to make a clear and unequivocal decision regarding its control of Judea and Samaria.

“I’m going to surprise you, because I also see an opportunity, even a big opportunity,” Livni told the audience on Tuesday at the Institute for National Security Studies annual conference.

“There is no one left in the government or in Washington to blame,” she continued, contending that Netanyahu and his coalition can no longer accuse a “bad cop” in the White House of interfering in Israeli policy on Judea and Samaria.

“If Israel can really do whatever it wants, it’s time that Israel decides what it wants,” she stated.

Livni, who led negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as Netanyahu’s justice minister in the last coalition, seemed to echo earlier remarks by current Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home). Unlike Livni, Shaked and the rest of her faction unequivocally oppose a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

“We have to say to the American government what we want and not wait for orders from them,” Shaked told Israel Army Radio on Sunday. “This is a sympathetic administration. They want to know what we want to do.”

Shaked made her remarks shortly before the security cabinet decided to postpone debate on incorporating the Israeli city of Ma’ale Adumim into Israel.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Ayelet ShakedDonald TrumpJewish Home partyJudea and SamariaTwo State SolutionTzipi Livni