Knesset speaker tells settlers Israel must annex the West Bank

Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein declared on Sunday that Israel should annex the occupied West Bank, speaking to the annual conference of Beit El settlement yeshiva in Manhattan.

According to a report by Arutz Sheva, Edelstein claimed that the Likud-led Israeli coalition government has done “so much for the Land of Israel”.

“The Knesset has already passed important laws to strengthen our safeguards against terrorism, uphold our national dignity, and defend us from our enemies—whether they threaten us with missiles or with boycotts,” Edelstein said.

Edelstein continued: “But there is still much more to do. Above all, we need to extend Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]”.

READ: Israel politicians urge annexation of West Bank settlements

“To [the illegal Israeli settlements of] Ma’ale Adumim…to Gush Etzion…to Beit El…and to the rest of Judea and Samaria—the Jewish and Israeli heartland.”

“We owe this step to our brothers and sisters who live and work in these communities [settlements],” Edelstein said. “It is our duty to support their pioneering spirit and love of the Land of Israel—and we cannot continue treating them like second-class citizens.”