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Israeli minister: Sovereignty move not beginning July 1

According to Ze’ev Elkin, the “clock will start ticking” towards applying Israeli law to parts of Judea and Samaria, though the plan is not yet ready for implementation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current Higher Education Minister Ze'ev Elkin in Tel Aviv on Oct. 27, 2016. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current Higher Education Minister Ze’ev Elkin in Tel Aviv on Oct. 27, 2016. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.

Israeli Minister of Higher Education Ze’ev Elkin said on Tuesday that the government’s plans to extend sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria would not begin on July 1, as originally stated.

“Whoever planned that everything would happen in a single day on July 1 did so at his own risk,” he told Army Radio. “From tomorrow, the clock will start ticking.”

Meanwhile, according to Ynet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday with Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat to discuss Israel’s proposed sovereignty moves.

In a recorded address to the Christians United for Israel Virtual Summit 2020 on Sunday night, Netanyahu touted the application of Israeli law to areas of Judea and Samaria—part of the “Peace to Prosperity” plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump in January—as a step that would “advance peace.”

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