Israeli Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strook called on Monday for building Jewish communities throughout all of Judea and Samaria, including in Palestinian Authority-administered areas.
Strook, a member of Israel’s Security Cabinet, told Arutz Sheva that the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reversed what she described as much of the damage caused by the Oslo Accords signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s, as well as the 2005 disengagement from northern Samaria.
However, Strook said, “This entire land is ours—not only Area C, but also Areas B and A.”
The 1995 Oslo II agreement broke the disputed territories into three areas: A, B, and C. Area C falls under Israeli jurisdiction, while areas A and B are controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Strook said there were “1.3 million dunams [130,000 hectares, or about 320,000 acres] of land not used for any settlement.” She argued that Jerusalem “needs to take them because they are ours,” adding that the Jewish state “needs to move into Area A.”
“Anyone who believes Oslo was a disaster, who believes the damage caused by Oslo can and should be corrected ... should vote for us,” the senior minister said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has led an unprecedented drive to expand Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria, having approved tens of thousands of homes and dozens of new communities in the past three-and-a-half years.
Netanyahu’s coalition, sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, will be the first to complete a full four-year term in over 50 years, with elections set for Oct. 27.
Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democrats Party, told Israeli podcaster Nadav Perry on Monday that he would seek to reverse the government’s steps in Judea and Samaria if he joined a government formed by those seeking to unseat Netanyahu.
“My vision is two states for two peoples. The first step in that process is to prevent further annexation, fight both Palestinian terrorism and Jewish terrorism, and evacuate the illegal outposts and farms,” he said.
“We could agree on that as early as tomorrow morning with Naftali Bennett, Gadi Eizenkot and Avigdor Liberman,” Golan added, referring to fellow leaders of the anti-Netanyahu camp.
