With the support of the United States and with the insights that the people of Israel have internalized in the wake of the October 7th massacre, the Israeli government must act with courage and apply sovereignty.
It is a well-known human characteristic to remain within the confines of the familiar, warm, and pleasant, and not to advance into the unknown.
For 58 years now, Israeli governments have refrained from taking the bold step of applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Prime Ministers and government ministers are well aware of our historical right to the land, the Jewish heritage in these areas, and the fact that these are areas that belong to us according to international law as well.
Nevertheless, they are terrified of taking the necessary step that would put an end to the destructive illusion of dividing the land into two states and would uproot the foundations of the false claim that we are "imperialist occupiers" in a land that is not our own.
Applying sovereignty will finally normalize the status of Jewish residents living in Judea and Samaria, allow for an updated, broad national outline plan filled with development options for the benefit of Israeli citizens, a plan that will not be built patchwork but will be organized, structured, long- term and visionary.
Applying sovereignty will restore the people of Israel to the values of Zionism, settlement, immigration, and security, values upon which the State of Israel was established, which seem to have been somewhat diminished over the years.
The Sovereignty Movement conducted a study ahead of Israel's 100th anniversary, a national.outline plan of objective and vision. The study reveals that in that year, Israel's population will number between fifteen and twenty million residents. That number of people cannot continue to crowd in the area between Hadera and Gedera.
Applying sovereignty expands the Israeli planning horizons and provides the basis for a solution for the expanding and burgeoning population in Israel.
A dangerous governmental vacuum that transmits weakness is the immediate result of a reality in which a determined and clear decision by the State of Israel and its leadership to apply sovereignty in the heart of the land has not yet been taken. This weakness is interpreted both in Arab countries and among the Arabs within the State of Israel as evidence that they face a people uncertain of their right to the land, a people detached from and lacking roots in the land, land that is the most important motif in Middle Eastern culture.
Facing a people of that kind, the Arabs are confident that facts can be established on the ground, lands can be taken over, and Israel can be attacked in the hope of facilitating the expulsion of the Jewish people from their land and their return to exile.
Since the Hamas attack was launched against us on the morning of Simchat Torah, a profound change has occurred in the consciousness of Israeli society. Several basic insights that in the past were the province of only part of the people have permeated many additional parts of it, including those whose worldview was had been distant from it:
• The two-state idea has vanished.
• The neighboring countries and the Arabs living among us want our land. There is no difference between Hamas, the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, and the Israeli Arabs. They express their perception by means of a series of terrorist events, whether on the morning of Simchat Torah on October 7th, on the roads of Judea and Samaria, or in the “Guardian of the Walls” riots in mixed cities inside little Israel. The objective is one and the ways of achieving it are quite similar. Our enemies do not shy away from any barbaric-Nazi means on their way to achieve their objective.
• The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has presented to the world a new, different, and refreshing perception, based on the sound logic that it is impossible to repeat the same mistakes and expect different results. Therefore, the emigration of Gaza Arabs, and expanding the emigration of Arabs from Judea and Samaria as well, is the most humane and correct solution. Prof. Eugene Kontorovich clarified this at a conference held by the Land of Israel Lobby in the Knesset: “In every war or major conflict, people flee as refugees to third countries. Enabling them to leave does not constitute a violation of international law. Imprisoning them and forcing them to stay could be a violation.”
• Arabs have many countries with similar culture and language. These countries, some of which are very wealthy in economic resources, can easily absorb them. The Jewish people have only one country. The Jewish people is a different people, with a different national culture and a different national and global destiny.
• A study that examined the economic implications of the emigration plan reveals that it is a plan that would be less expensive than all the security expenditures involved in keeping the Gaza Arabs in place. Ido Norden, chairman of the Senior Forum, presented a position paper before the Land of Israel Lobby this week with clear conclusions: the cost of keeping the population in Gaza and rehabilitating the Strip would be between 98-127 billion dollars, while a relocation grant of $25,000 per Gaza family would be much more economical and less expensive.
Insistence on keeping the Gazans in place will only lead to more rounds of terrorism and bloodshed, and will undermine regional stability.
In light of these basic insights, which the people of Israel are internalizing since the October 7th massacre, the Israeli government must implement the idea of emigration of Arabs and application of Israeli sovereignty.
With the support of the United States, with an effective publicity campaign, it will be possible to create a new Middle East, calmer, more secure, and more just.
An appropriate step towards a move of that kind was taken this week in the Knesset’s Land of Israel Lobby, the Yesha Council, and the Regavim Movement. A small step toward a great vision.
It is incumbent upon the heads of the councils in Judea and Samaria, too, to implore the general leadership to bring about the realization of the sovereignty vision. Their duty is not only to tend to kindergartens, schools, garbage collection, and sewage. They must first and foremost ensure the permanent status of the area they govern.
It is incumbent upon you, the heads of the residents of Judea and Samaria and their leaders, to have the municipal executives focus on everyday matters and devote your time to action for the sake of tomorrow. Your role as heads of authorities is to continue the pioneering spirit, not to be bogged down in matters of quality of life but to address the “why.”
Positioning the vision of sovereignty as the challenge of the settlement movement will ultimately bring true quality of life, meaning, and spiritual elevation to the people, and the verse will be fulfilled in us: “Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation.”