Every Likud Party minister of the coalition government signed a letter on Wednesday calling for Israeli sovereignty to be applied over Judea and Samaria before the end of the Knesset’s summer session.
The letter was timed to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next week in Washington, D.C. Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to the United States on Sunday.
The letter was the initiative of the Yesha Council, which also collected the signatures. The council is the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
“We, ministers and Knesset members, call for the immediate application of Israeli sovereignty and law to Judea and Samaria,” stated the letter, which posits that establishing Israeli rule over those areas is a natural extension of Netanyahu’s success against Iran and its proxies.
“The massacre of Oct. 7 proved that … the establishment of a Palestinian state in the rest of the territory is an existential danger to Israel. It’s time for sovereignty,” it read.
The “strategic partnership” between Israel and the United States, led by Trump, offers a unique opportunity to launch the sovereignty process now “and ensure Israel’s security for generations,” the letter concludes.
Trump invited Netanyahu following “the great victory we achieved in ‘Operation Rising Lion’” against Iran, the prime minister said during a Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday. “Capitalizing on success is no less important than achieving it.”
Trump said the two leaders would discuss a range of issues, starting with the recent military operation against Iran. “We had an incredible success, like nobody’s had in many, many years. That was a precision war strike,” the U.S. president said, referring to the American bombing of the Fordow nuclear site.
“The word ‘obliteration’ can now be used because the Atomic Energy Commission said you can’t even get into the place. It was demolished. It was really demolished. It was a great, brilliant strike, and [we’ll discuss] how to go forward,” he asserted.
Trump added that the talks would also focus on Gaza, emphasizing ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. “We got a lot of hostages back, but we’re going to talk about Gaza,” he said.
Netanyahu said he is also scheduled to meet with Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State and acting White House National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.