Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Jordan Valley on Monday and reiterated his pledge to apply Israeli law there and in other areas that have been designated under the newly unveiled White House peace plan.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"President Donald Trump said that he will recognize Israel's application of sovereignty [over the relevant areas], and he will do so once we finalize the processes that have already begun," Netanyahu said, referring to the joint Israeli-American effort to delineate the relevant territorial boundaries and other technical matters that would come under official Israeli law.
Netanyahu planted a sapling, as is customary in the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, and touted the favorable terms that were included in the Trump plan and asked Israelis to give him a renewed mandate in the March 2 election to implement the plan.
"We are going to make history, after having the US recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, we then got a statement from Trump in which he said that he will definitely recognize the application of Israeli law [in certain areas in Judea and Samaria]," Netanyahu said, adding the American support for Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan valley "is also pertinent to our ability to settle the heart of our land without restrictions. We have fought over this area since the days of Joshua and the Israelites. We are here to stay."
Netanyahu stressed that this recognition would not be affected by Palestinian intransigence. "This is not dependent on them, this will happen once we complete mapping out the relevant areas," he said.
