Hundreds of Israelis, including ministers and lawmakers, gathered at the Knesset on Monday for a summit focused on advancing sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
The Sovereignty Conference—an initiative of Likud Knesset members Dan Illouz, Keti Shitrit, Moshe Passal, Ariel Kallner and Avichai Boaron—seeks to pressure the government to immediately extend Israeli law over territories Jerusalem liberated during the 1967 Six-Day War.
“Yesterday marked six months since President Trump began his second term, and we now have an Israeli government that is committed to sovereignty,” Kallner told JNS on Monday.
“We cannot have better partners in the White House, and we should use this—we should not lose this opportunity,” he said. “We must implement sovereignty over Judea and Samaria to correct the current situation, in which the heart of the Land of Israel—its biblical heart—is still not under our sovereignty.”
Passal told JNS on Monday that the purpose of the conference was to address the shortcomings of the strategic concepts that prevailed before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
“Applying full sovereignty is justice. And I expect that in practice we will soon include sovereignty over the territories of the historical homeland of the Jewish people, including Judea and Samaria,” Passal said.
He emphasized that “those who want to protect the center of the country must apply full sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.”
Speakers at the event included Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana; Energy Minister Eli Cohen; Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, formerly an IDF corps commander and commander of its Military Colleges; former Ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar; and Judea and Samaria leaders.
“It’s time to correct the historical injustice, fulfill our right to the heart of our promised land and ensure the state’s security,” Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, which helped organize the event, said in a statement ahead of the summit.
The two women called on the government to “fulfill this Zionist imperative with courage and determination, understanding that this is the key to a safe and prosperous future in the land,” adding that the “true answer” to the terrorists’ Oct. 7 massacre would be “to uproot their hope and apply sovereignty immediately.”
Separately on Monday morning, Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Zvi Sukkot convened the Knesset’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria to discuss the practical implications of declaring sovereignty over the area.
Representatives of the defense establishment, the Justice Ministry and the Settlements and National Missions Ministry were summoned to participate in the forum, titled “Implications of a Scenario of Applying Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” the Sovereignty Movement said.
On July 2, ministers from the ruling Likud Party unanimously signed a letter in which they called on the government to extend Israeli law to Judea and Samaria in the coming weeks.
“Now is the time for the government to approve a decision on the application of sovereignty, and this must be done before the end of the Knesset’s Summer Session [on July 27],” they wrote, according to Israel National News.
“Following the historic achievements of the State of Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in confronting the axis of evil led by Iran and its proxies, the task must now be completed by removing the existential threat from within and preventing another massacre in the heart of the country,” the ministers’ missive added.
Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also has authority over civilian matters in Judea and Samaria, has directed his office to prepare practical plans for Israeli sovereignty over the region.
Smotrich instructed the Defense Ministry’s Settlement Administration to “formulate an operational plan for applying sovereignty, and we will not stop until the entire area receives its full legal status and becomes an inseparable part of the State of Israel,” the minister announced on July 5.
Moreover, Knesset lawmakers passed a nonbinding motion on May 28, declaring their support for extending sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.
“With the understanding that these parts of the Land are inseparable from the homeland of the Jewish people, in light of the broad Israeli consensus against a Palestinian state, and to prevent the recurrence of the Oct. 7 disaster—applying Israeli law is a moral and necessary step for security and the realization of the Zionist vision,” the motion read.
MK Shitrit told JNS on Monday that maintaining security control over Judea and Samaria without extending Israeli law to the territories is insufficient.
“The time has come to write a new and decisive chapter in the history of the renewal of the Jewish people in their land, and to cut off the enemy’s hope by establishing facts on the ground,” she said.
Shitrit noted that Israel is currently experiencing a period of exceptional geopolitical strength, with its assertive military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and its broader confrontation with Iran reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East. She said these developments have created a rare window for international opportunities.
“Increasing our strategic depth by applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria would enhance our position as a regional power,” added Shitrit.
