Israeli government officials are advocating for extending Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, with key ministers prioritizing this goal over potential regional peace agreements.
“Between the Jordan River and the Sea, there will only be one state,” Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen stated in a recent interview with Makor Rishon. Cohen emphasized that “the path of the ideological right has proven to be the correct one,” suggesting Israel should leverage the incoming Trump administration to apply sovereignty in the region.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has initiated practical preparations for this move. “The year 2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich declared. He has directed the Settlement Administration and Civil Administration to prepare the necessary infrastructure for implementing sovereignty.
Local leaders argue this move would enhance regional stability. Israel Ganz, head of the Yesha Council, maintains that annexation would bring “true peace” to the region. This sentiment is echoed by incoming U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who stated that sovereignty decisions are “for Israel to make,” suggesting the U.S. administration’s supportive stance.
The Sovereignty Movement, led by Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, connects recent security challenges to the absence of Israeli control. “The harsh and terrible reality in which we find ourselves since the morning of Simchat Torah is the result of the failure to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, and Gaza,” they wrote, arguing that victory requires Israel to take “the just and moral step of applying sovereignty over its land.”
“Following this past year, we are the strongest in the Middle East,” Smotrich added. “We’ll apply sovereignty together with our American friends. We’ll extend the agreements and alliances with neighboring countries, and we’ll create a true new Middle East.”
A recent Jerusalem conference discussed implementation strategies, drawing from former U.S. Ambassador David Friedman’s book, “One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”
The 1947 UN Partition Plan proposed that Judea and Samaria would be an Arab state but the Arabs rejected this. Israel conquered the area in the 1967 Six-Day War. International law dictates that in defensive wars, the defender’s territorial gains from such a war would not be illegal. As per this law, Israel has the right to annex all of the territory conquered in the 1967 war.
