Congress will hold a discussion next month on the application of Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, according to Yesha Council Chairman Yisrael Ganz.
“We are at a rare moment in time, with a friendly and supportive U.S. administration. This is the time to move forward with a historic step that will affect the security of the entire State of Israel,” said Ganz, who is currently in the United States promoting the sovereignty plan.
The Yesha Council is an umbrella group of local councils in Judea and Samaria.
Referring to last week’s deadly terror attack in Jerusalem, which left six people dead—including a resident of the Binyamin Regional Council—Ganz warned that unless Israeli sovereignty is extended to Judea and Samaria, “this is the reality that awaits us in Petah Tikva, Netanya and Kfar Saba.”
According to a statement, Ganz met with U.S. Representatives Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Randy Fine (R-Fla.), along with Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“In my many meetings with our good friends in the United States, one can see the support and love for Israel,” said Ganz. “This is the time for a historic step that will change the balance of power in Judea and Samaria. I call on the government of Israel: this is the imperative of the hour; we must not miss it.”
Lawler, who chairs the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, emphasized that Washington stands in “solidarity with the Jewish people, with the people in Judea and Samaria, who have a right to live there.”
He added: “And I believe firmly in the importance of recognizing that right. And that’s why we will be holding a hearing next month about Judea and Samaria.”
Added Stutzman: “We are talking about the future of Israel and why it is so important that Judea and Samaria be under Israeli control. The shooting [in Jerusalem] shows again why it should be.”
Israeli ministers on Saturday night called on the government to annex Judea and Samaria, after the U.N. General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution outlining a path towards recognition of a Palestinian state.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the signing of an “umbrella agreement” between the government and Ma’ale Adumim at the Judean city’s Cultural Center, which commits Jerusalem to finance the construction of two new neighborhoods and the expansion of a third in the city.
“We said there will be no Palestinian state—indeed there will be no Palestinian state. This place is ours,” Netanyahu declared at the event.
