We are happy to present you with our 20th Sovereignty bulletin, sent to members and supporters of our Sovereignty Movement. You are invited to read, get updated and join:
Dear Friends,
We are in the midst of a complex and unsettled time involving conflicting reports, political and policy interests, denials, rumors and declarations.
We must navigate among all of this and continue to be a red warning sign visible from afar, to warn the Israeli leadership against any plan that might, Heaven forbid, lead to the tearing of the Land and the establishment of an alien state in her heart.
It seems that we must set out in a public battle against the approaching Oslo 3. The most striking and worrying thing is what has been said by President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, that Israel has made a “generous offer” as he puts it, to establish a Palestinian state and that “The ball is in the Palestinian court now”. In his remarks, Kushner did not round any corners or try to whitewash the issue, stating that sovereignty has been removed from the political agenda. This, while enthusiastically rushing to sign a peace agreement with a state that Israel had never fought against, does it seem as if the Prime Minister’s political horses are raising a cloud of dust to blind the Right camp, obscure and hide the clauses or agreements to establish a Palestinian state?
Until now, Kushner maintained a high level of credibility and accuracy in his political expressions, which is precisely why his words are extremely concerning. On the other hand, senior officials in Israel who are trying to smooth things over and describe them as only a delay, are suspected of having political interests and foreign motives.
Israel’s many years of political experience can certainly show that when the Americans believe that the ball is in the Palestinians court, they know how to exert pressure so that the ball can turn into a bullet shot into the heart of Zionism.
We will not allow this. We will stand strong in every way to thwart any political moves of this sort. We will stand together with the leaders and politicians of the Right who demand that the Prime Minister reveal all of the details of the agreement. We will all mobilize together, citizens, people of spirit and action, along with politicians, members of Knesset and statesmen; we will raise high the voice of the Land of Israel and we will fight any disastrous plan of this sort, even if it entails a renewed battle for the leadership of the Right camp.
The Prime Minister’s turn to the Left could cost him his base among his supporters in the national camp.
The Land of Israel is not waiting
An important and very impressive conference was held this week in the Knesset under the shadow of reports on the political rapprochement between Israel and the United Emirates and the Gulf states.
The Land of Israel Lobby, under the leadership of Members of Knesset Haim Katz and Bezalel Smotrich, met for the first meeting of its renewed of activity, which keeps the vision of sovereignty before its eyes as an attainable policy and political goal.
Dozens of members of Knesset and ministers took part, including Speaker of the Knesset, who signed on their personal commitment to act to promote the goals of the lobby in Knesset as well as within the framework of their ministries’ activities to strengthen the State of Israel’s governance and sovereignty in all parts of the Land of Israel.
At the conference, co-chairman of the lobby and chairman of the Likud Central Committee MK Haim Katz declared: “The time has come for sovereignty. We will initiate building, development and investment in the settlement enterprise”.
His partner in leading the lobby, chairman of the National Union MK Bezalel Smotrich added: “We are putting politics on the side and uniting our forces on behalf of sovereignty and the Land of Israel”.
Speaker of the Knesset, Member of Knesset Yariv Levin, said, among other things, that “sovereignty is the irrefutable right of the People of Israel and it is our duty to implement it. It is not a matter of choice.” He also made clear that while his job is to be a statesman, in this matter of sovereignty, he is not from the UN and he intends to mobilize himself to support the promotion of sovereignty.
The Sovereignty Movement congratulates the director of the Land of Israel Lobby, our dedicated friend Orit Struck, on organizing the conference, leading the lobby over the years and the many achievements it has made in the political and intellectual arena. With her talent, Orit manages to formulate rare agreements from all corners of the Knesset around the vision of sovereignty, and it seems that the people of Israel will need her full strength and abilities in the near future. Orit may you rise and succeed!
Read at length about this important meeting
For me, sovereignty is…
And this time, our guest columnist is the recent ambassador to the UN, former minister Danny Dannon:
“For me, sovereignty is the realization of the national vision of the Jewish People returning to its Land. As a Jew, as an Israeli, as a Zionist and as a member of the national camp, Judea and Samaria are the beating heart of the State of Israel”.
Chodesh Tov and Shabbat shalom ,
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar