MK Michal Shir, who was elected in the 29th slot on the Likud faction’s Knesset slate, on Monday told Srugim that the first bill she plans to submit to the plenum would be the application of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
“Applying sovereignty is the top priority,” said MK Shir. “There is no reason that for even one more minute the civil rights of the residents of Judea and Samaria will continue to be harmed. All the more so since the Likud Central Committee has already passed this proposal, and the prime minister accepts it and spoke about it during the election campaign, and now a new Knesset has begun, and there is nothing like seeking renewal in this festive time and saying, ‘We will continue from here.'”
Shir grew up in Givatayim, which borders Tel Aviv to the east. She is the daughter of Michael Shir, editor of the children’s magazine Etzbeoni (Tom Thumb). She joined Likud at the age of 14, and was involved in the establishment of the Ma’ale Yisrael settlement outpost. Shir worked with MK Gideon Sa’ar, Netanyahu’s biggest nemesis in the party, when he was Likud chairman between 2006 and 2009, and as education minister in Netanyahu’s next two terms. She was placed in the 29th slot which was reserved for the representative of the Tel Aviv area.
When asked why she thinks she would succeed in passing a bill that MK Yoav Kisch, the Knesset speaker, and MK Naftali Bennett had tried to promote and failed, Shir replied that “during the last election, we heard statements by senior officials and the prime minister himself” in favor of the application of sovereignty.
“We are the eve of the Trump program,” she said. “If we don’t take care of our own, no one will. I believe we will find the support. The Likud Central Committee has already passed its resolution [favoring sovereignty], and now the time has come to do it.”