During these difficult times, we must instill faith and hope in people. We must return to the basic Zionist value of applying Jewish sovereignty over the land and fulfilling our mission as a holy nation spreading light to the entire world.
With the coronavirus’s return, some argue that we should drop the campaign to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and focus solely on battling the virus. True statesmen, however, don’t allow crises to divert them from their goals.
Political, economic, and social difficulties didn’t deter Levi Eshkol or Menahem Begin from applying Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and neither should a virus deter us from applying sovereignty over other portions of the land.
Within Likud, calls are increasing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be strong and conduct the political battle alongside the economic-medical one. Among those urging this course of action are Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Minister Ze’ev Elkin, MK Sharren Haskel, MK Michal Shir, and MK Ariel Kellner.
Indeed, from Yamina to Likud to the charedi factions to Blue and White, Derech Eretz, Telem, most of Yesh Atid, and part of Labor– all agree on the need to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.
Some are about political stability, but applying sovereignty will strengthen the government, not weaken it. MK Sharren Haskel recently said that the current government will disintegrate if sovereignty is not applied. She explained that the present coalition is not a natural alliance, and one of the only reasons Likud MKs agreed to support it was the perceived need to apply sovereignty before the November elections in the United States.
As she said in comments reported by Arutz 7, “Without the application of sovereignty, this government has no reason to exist.”
In an interview with Channel 20, Haskell said if sovereignty is not be applied in the coming weeks, there will be no choice but to head to a fourth round of elections.
We must also sound a word of caution, though. In an interview with Galei Tzahal, Jason Greenblatt, the U.S. president’s former envoy to the Middle East, made clear that one of goals of the Trump plan is a negotiation progress that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of Eretz Yisrael.
We must therefore say unequivocally that there is no way we can agree to such a plan. The principle of “Yes to sovereignty, no to Palestine” must lead us in every discussion on sovereignty. One does not make deals on the homeland – not theoretically and certainly practically.
Apart from this statement of principle, we must continue energetically urging the application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and then the rest of the Land of Israel currently in our hands.