President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP/ Evan Vucci)
“Religious Zionism has a good heart,” he told the conference, “but it doesn’t always understand politics.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that his delay in extending Israeli sovereignty to portions of Judea and Samaria is due to the request of President Donald Trump that it be done all at once, instead of piecemeal.
“The reason that we haven’t yet annexed the communities in Judea and Samaria is that Trump has asked that we annex it all in one shot,” Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Conference on Tuesday.
The prime minister made reference to pressure brought to bear by Judea and Samaria local leaders and others on the Right, calling upon him to act immediately on the issue of Israeli sovereignty in the aftermath of the Trump peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians unveiled at the White House at the end of January, which recognized the Jewish connection to the lands of Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu touted his ability to withstand pressure from the Obama administration and said that he believes “every word” of what Trump says.
As he has before previous elections, as well, the prime minister has been criticizing smaller right-wing parties ahead of the March 2 ballot, charging that they are not acting in the best interests of the ideological cause and that a strong Likud with him at the helm is necessary due to his experience in handling sensitive matters.
“Religious Zionism has a good heart,” he told the conference, “but it doesn’t always understand politics.”
The prime minister lashed out at Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and MK Ayelet Shaked, leaders of the right-wing Yemina faction, for charging that the Trump plan does not suit the Right’s ideology enough, though they were also willing, according to Netanyahu, to talk to Blue and White leader MK Benny Gantz about the possibility of joining a government coalition that would have included left-wing parties.
“To get lectured by those who nearly joined a government with Benny Gantz?” said Netanyahu, adding that “there are things in the Trump plan to which the Left here [in Israel] object, such as not dividing Jerusalem, rescinding the right of return [of Palestinian refugees], and the establishment of a Jewish state.”
Referring to the title of ‘Deal of the Century’ given to the Trump plan, the prime minister warned that Israel would miss the “opportunity of a century” if he did not form the next government.
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