Judea and Samaria
Despite calls by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to take to the streets to protest Israel’s slated move, Ramallah remains fairly quiet.
The letter, co-signed by all 15 Joint List MKs, calls for suspension of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement, and for enforcement of E.U. labeling laws for Israeli products.
Palestinians in the E1 area east of Jerusalem seem unsupportive of the plan. Those in nearby Ma’ale Adumim eagerly await it. And the Bedouin are in smack-dab in the middle of everything.
These are “the territories where the patriarchs of the Jewish people prayed, where our prophets preached and where our kings ruled,” said Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer.
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.
The letter has been issued by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).
“People have too many problems over their heads in this period,” noted former P.A. official Ghassan Khatib.
July 1 isn’t “a holy date” to begin implementing the sovereignty, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz tells U.S. special envoy Avi Berkowitz.
In an address on Sunday night to the Christians United for Israel Virtual Summit 2020, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinians “not to lose another opportunity, not to waste another century trying to destroy Israel.”
The European Union must “review and be willing to suspend or downgrade” trade and cooperation agreements with the Jewish state, says the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
“The Valley’s depth creates a formidable barrier and provides a far more defensible boundary than the so-called Green Line, or pre-1967 line, especially in the current geostrategic context of an increasingly violent and unpredictable Middle East,” states a report issued by JINSA.
Other than Jordan, the Jewish state maintains a peace treaty with neighboring Egypt, which has also expressed concern over the move.
