One thousand youths attended the fifth annual Youth Sovereignty Movement convention in Jerusalem on Thursday. The event centered around the demand for Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, to be followed by sovereignty throughout Judea and Samaria.
MKs, notable rabbis, and other dignitaries were also on hand and joined in the call of the Sovereignty Movement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a few coalition ministers addressed the convention on video.
Co-chairs of the Sovereignty Movement Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, chairman of Sovereignty Youth, Hod Fisherman, former Labor Party minister Avraham Katz-Oz, CEO of the Yesha Council Shira Liebman, head of the Beit El Council, Shai Alon, and talk show hosts Yotam Zimri and Noam Fathi also attended. The event was moderated by Noam Jacobson.
“We are overjoyed to see the amazing youth who are participating and say: ‘The Land of Israel – we love you, we will protect you,’” said Katsover, and continued: “What touched me the most, I had tears in my eyes, was when I saw the Neve Dekalim Ulpana in attendance. The reason we established the Sovereignty Movement was to prevent a recurrence of the expulsion from Gush Katif and the expulsion from northern Samaria. Sovereignty will protect the Land of Israel, it will protect the settlement enterprise. Sovereignty will provide another legal and political authorization. With God’s help, as was the case in the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, the world did not go upside down and nothing happened.”
“We are starting with the Jordan Valley. This is the eastern wall of the State of Israel and it must be strong. There is a broad consensus regarding the Jordan Valley. It is not an issue of Right and Left, it is clear to everyone that we must be there. Gantz also spoke about it at the time, the Prime Minister spoke about it, and opposition MKs proposed legislation on this issue. The Jordan Valley will be, with God’s help, under Israeli sovereignty, it’s only a matter of time. Of course, we are not relinquishing Judea and Samaria, but we are taking one step forward because the chance is greater in the Jordan Valley,” Katsover said.
Matar shared that when she and her co-chair had called to invite individuals who attended the previous conventions, many said they wanted to attend, but couldn’t because they were busy. “One is in a cadet training course, another is in an officer training course, and another is in a different course. All of them are in key positions to lead the State of Israel. In this room are a future prime minister, a future defense minister, economic leaders, judicial leaders, future mayors of new cities,” she promised.
“Sovereignty Youth is grooming leaders who know that the land is ours and that we must not relinquish it; leaders who do not hesitate, and who know that Sovereignty must be applied in the Jordan Valley first, and then in all the areas throughout Israel. It is very exciting to see that our future is so bright with such amazing youth. ‘Let us go up and inherit it; for we can prevail over it’ (Numbers 13:30),” Matar said.
The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, David Elhiani, told the audience: “Applying Sovereignty in the Jordan Valley first is a national and existential interest. I believe that applying Sovereignty will protect the State of Israel not only from a security perspective, and not only from a settlement perspective but also from an existential perspective. I call on the Prime Minister and the government: this is a fully right-wing government. This is a historic moment. Raise the banner and apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.”
On Monday, the Sovereignty Movement sent a letter to the heads of the coalition parties requesting action in applying Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley. After congratulating the coalition on revoking the Disengagement Act and allowing Homesh to resettle in northern Samaria, Katsover and Matar wrote: “Now, the time has come for the next, necessary step: the immediate application of Sovereignty in the Jordan Valley in particular and in Judea and Samaria in general.”
They pointed to the unique window of opportunity, as the idea of applying sovereignty in the Jordan Valley enjoys considerable support in the coalition as well as among opposition MKs.
