Arye Deri: ‘We’re already preparing for West Bank sovereignty’

It is presumed that the plan would allow for Israel to apply sovereignty over some or all of the West Bank settlements, starting with the Jordan Valley.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri during a visit to the Jordan Valley, January 27, 2020 (photo credit: YONATAN VELTZER/TPS)
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri during a visit to the Jordan Valley, January 27, 2020
(photo credit: YONATAN VELTZER/TPS)
Interior Minister Arye Deri on Monday said his office is already preparing for the application of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.
“We have already begun to prepare, with staff work, to apply for the application of the [sovereignty] law,” he said during a visit to the Jordan Valley.”
Deri heads the Shas party, which is expected to support any Israeli sovereignty initiative that would come before the cabinet and the Knesset for a vote.
There are many challenges that need to be overcome, Deri said, adding that sovereignty would include the transfer of civilian affairs from the IDF Civil Administration to his office. It also would include decisions on all facets of civilian life, such as whether there would need to be new elections for the regional and local council positions.
Deri spoke as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz, are in Washington to hear details of Trump’s peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The plan, details of which Trump has said he would reveal on Tuesday, presumably would allow for Israel to apply sovereignty over some or all of the West Bank settlements, starting with the Jordan Valley.
“We have come here to inform the gentiles and all the world that we are in our ancestral land,” Deri said. “It is ours, and what belongs to us, we have settled on. The prime minister is on a historic mission with the US president, who is our true friend. We hope that tomorrow we can inform everyone that this is our territory.”
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman and Yamina head Naftali Bennett have challenged Netanyahu to push sovereignty with an immediate cabinet and Knesset vote as early as this week or next.