The Israeli Maariv newspaper has reported that four prominent Likud Party candidates are demanding the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank. The demands were made in a political debate organised by the right-wing “Women in green” movement.
The four were named as Minister of Information and Publicity Yuli Edelstein; the head of the government coalition Zeev Elkin; Knesset Member Yreif Levin; and Moshe Feiglin, the head of the “Jewish leadership” group within Likud.
According to Maariv, the demands came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his commitment to a two-state solution. That commitment, claim his opponents, is for the consumption of the international community and does not commit Likud to such a policy.
The newspaper’s website pointed out that while Elkin called for the gradual imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, Levin called for the imposition of the sovereignty over all the Israeli settlements, not only the large settlements. Edelstein noted that such a move will be neither easy nor simple.
Feiglin, however, said that Israel has to begin imposing its sovereignty “starting from the city of Lod”, that is, over all of the occupied West Bank, and this will be one of his party’s conditions for any coalition agreement after the election.