Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the West Bank settlement of Ofra in Binyamin, which this month marks 50 years since its founding, and met with Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Israel Gantz. In the meeting on Sunday, council leaders demanded that he apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the biblical names for the areas of the West Bank.
“There were many things I did that people said I would not do—like Rafah and Iran. We will deepen our hold on the Land of Israel. We are all aware of the problems and the opportunities—it’s better to reduce the talk,” Netanyahu said.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the West Bank settlement of Ofra for its 50th anniversary celebration
(Photo: Haim Zach, GPO)
Against the backdrop of growing international momentum toward recognizing a Palestinian state, a council leader told him: “Imposing sovereignty only after a UN declaration would be seen as a reactive step and would grant legitimacy to the narrative drawn by Israel’s enemies. We must reverse the order—sovereignty first, and then there will be nothing left to declare.”
A senior Yesha official added: “Israel’s hesitation in recent years is what fuels the diplomatic moves advancing the idea of a Palestinian state. While the IDF is fighting on the fronts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran—there is a political vacuum in Judea and Samaria, and the absence of a clear government decision undermines the security of the settlements.”
The council leaders noted that such a decision already enjoys a large majority in the Knesset.
“Now is the time to move from words to deeds. Not partial sovereignty only in the settlement blocs, but full sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria. This is the order of the day—Jewish, historical, moral and security-related,” a council leader said.
During the visit, Netanyahu, together with Council head Gantz, visited a cedar tree that the prime minister had planted 25 years ago. “It is very moving to be here," Netanyahu said at the site. "I came here 25 years ago to plant roots in a place where we have had roots for thousands of years. I said then that I would return for the community’s jubilee celebrations.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a tree he planted in Ofra 25 years ago
(Photo: Haim Zach, GPO)
He continued: “I also said to you afterward in our conversation that we will do everything to ensure our continued hold on the Land of Israel, to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, to prevent the attempts that were made—and unfortunately, still exist—to uproot us from here. Thank God, what I promised—we have fulfilled.
“It was not easy, because there were many forces, many pressures,” he said. “Pressures from home, pressures from abroad, a series of American presidents who wanted to uproot us and establish a Palestinian state here. We stood together against it. We fulfilled the promise of the generations—and look what has happened since.”
Netanyahu added that he is “deeply moved every time I come here. I haven’t been near this tree in 25 years. This tree symbolizes the deepening of our roots in our homeland and the raising of our branches higher and higher, exactly as we promised. I commend you for being, in essence, the spearhead of our continued existence in our land.”