Prime Minister Netanyahu will be devoting the coming days to hammering out agreements with his coalition partners Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi regarding the implementation of US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century."
Netanyahu has already secured American approval that the greater Jordan Valley and all of the localities in Judea and Samaria would come under Israeli sovereignty. He has publicly pledged, several times, to implement this plan in full. Gantz and Ashkenazi have also hinted they are in favor of Trump's plan, but have yet to present the public with a practical outline on how they think it should be carried out.
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The attempt to reach internal agreements, encouraged by Washington, is very important in and of itself. After all, Israel's plan to apply sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley entails a historic step for the Jewish people: it will change the country's borders and affect generations to come.
No one understands this better than Netanyahu and no one advocates for this cause more effectively than him, so it is only natural that he wants to ensure as much internal support as possible.
Still, the fact that we are facing a golden opportunity may trump the value of unity. What we fail to do now will not get done in the foreseeable future โ or at all for that matter.
The 2020 presidential elections in the United States are approaching fast and no one knows what the result will be. In any case, Gantz himself urged settler leaders last week to "take what you can get."
Therefore, if the efforts to formulate an agreed sovereignty outline do not go well, Netanyahu will have to pursue a different, more independent path. It is his right and duty to use all the tools at his disposal to fully realize all that the US peace plan has to offer because as important as an internal consensus is, eternity is more important.
As long as he has a majority in the government, he does not have to rely on Gantz and Ashkenazi. Furthermore, Blue and White entered the unity government knowing that there might be no consensus on the issue of sovereignty and they signed an agreement that allows Netanyahu to push the decision through even if it is contrary to their opinion.
Applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria is reminiscent of David Ben-Gurion's decisions in 1948 to practically force his colleagues to agree to establish the State of Israel when he did, despite all the concerns and difficulties.
He did so despite fierce opposition from then-US President Harry Truman, who found he had no choice but to go along with Ben-Gurion and was the first international leader to recognize the Jewish state.
This is exactly what will happen if Netanyahu goes all-in on the sovereignty bid.
After all, it's not just that Trump is facing re-election โ it's the fact that he is a staunch supporter of the Jewish state. Whatever happens, Trump will not criticize us and he certainly won't allow the likes of the EU to "punish" us. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner will also have to toe the line because, as Senator Ted Cruz said Sunday, Israel has a full right to decide its fate.
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