Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich met yesterday (Monday, Aug. 3) with the co-chairwomen of the Sovereignty Movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, and the chairman of the "Bitchonistim" (POI), Brig. Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi, for a discussion on the topic of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
Katsover, Matar and Avivi presented their opinion on this subject to the minister and asked for her support for the application of sovereignty. The participants of the meeting continued to discuss how to encourage Zionist initiatives such as aliyah, settlement and security.
They concluded the discussion noting that "it was conducted with a very good atmosphere; the minister demonstrated a very sympathetic view to the subject and expressed willingness and her intention to come for another visit to Gush Etzion and Hebron".
Does contacting the Blue and White minister indicate an attempt to bypass Netanyahu via his coalition partner? Katsover and Matar responded: "As you know, the Sovereignty Movement is an apolitical movement, so we are contacting all Zionist parties. The Blue and White party platform speaks of the Jordan Valley as the eastern border of the state. There is consensus on the subject of sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, so it is natural that we contact Blue and White as well, calling on them to act to apply sovereignty in the Valley first."
The two women emphasized that the meeting with the minister is not an indication of dispair over the rate of progress for the process in the Likud, rather, it is part of the efforts to consolidate as broad a coalition as possible around the vision of sovereignty. "We have certainly not given up on the Likud. Almost all of the Likud wants sovereignty. The Prime Minister simply must stand behind the promises that he made in the three past election campaigns".
Katsover and Matar also related to reports saying that in a closed meeting of the Likud faction, the Prime Minister said that steps toward sovereignty are awaiting progress from the White House. "To claim in the faction meeting that they are waiting for a green light from the Americans is ridiculous", they state. "The Americans say that it is Israel's decision, and this is indeed the correct order and the correct act. Israel must act in her own interests".
"This is a revolutionary process that demands political courage and leadership, such as was demonstrated by Ben Gurion, Menahem Begin and Levi Eshkol. The United States, after all, will respect this step".
Can it be that Gantz will turn out to be more Right-wing than Netanyahu? We don't know – we do not have a "rightometer", but there is no doubt that he is courageous, as he proved when he chose to enter a unity government, knowing all of the difficulties awaiting him from home and from abroad. Only a courageous person for whom the good of the state is truly important would take such a fateful step. Netanyahu has been conducting a great struggle against Iran and thus is also capable , of course, to lead the application of sovereignty without establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land, Heaven forbid".
