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Annexation of the West Bank is "on the table...but it will take time," Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz told the Post.
By AMICHAI STEIN JANUARY 21, 2025 22:53 Updated: JANUARY 21, 2025 23:03
US President Donald Trump signs documents as he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, US, January 20, 2025.
(photo credit: REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA/FILE PHOTO)
US President Donald Trump's administration could give Israel an opportunity to further settlement construction in the West Bank, Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
Ganz, who serves as the Binyamin Regional Council head, told the Post that Israel does not only have an opportunity to build and expand settlements but that annexation of the West Bank is "on the table...but it will take time."
In his first term, Trump unveiled a Middle East peace plan that would have allowed Israel to annex 30% of the West Bank.
However, opposition from inside the administration, claiming such a plan would undermine the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and some Arab nations, as well as opposition from MK Benny Gantz, who was then part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, brought the plans to a halt.
Ganz attended the president's inauguration on Monday and met with countless lawmakers and officials from the incoming administration during a trip to the United States, which included a visit to Trump's Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida.
The American officials who spoke to Ganz, and whom he referred to as 'friends,' share Israel's view that settlements in the West Bank must be strengthened, Ganz told the Post.
"Especially compared to the outgoing administration."The Biden administration, according to Ganz, "spoke about us when it came to Judea and Samaria, [rather than] to us. Biden administration officials chose a side that was disconnected from all logic.
"The Binyamin Regional Council head hailed Trump for his decision to welcome families of both American and Israeli hostages, including freed hostage Noa Argamani, on stage at Trump’s inaugural parade on Monday night, dubbing it a "huge signal to the world."
Rescinded sanctions
Ganz further hailed Trump for rescinding sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups in the West Bank, a decision that, while anticipated, came only a few hours following the president's inauguration."
We have been working for a long time to repeal the sanctions...on settlers who were accused of 'violent crimes against Palestinians' and organizations who work with settlements," Ganz told the Post.
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"We had commitments and promises that this would happen."
However, Ganz explained, "The fact that the president did it in the first few hours in his new job shows a deep commitment and an understanding of how great the injustice was."
The council head said that "at some point" in the inauguration, Trump "waved at us and said: 'I know you, you are from Israel. You are great.'"This was a significant statement for the US," Ganz stated.
As to the challenges posed by the Palestinian Authority's presence in the area, Ganz noted that "everyone agrees it is impossible to continue working with a body that pays terrorists and teaches terrorism" in its schools."There is a disagreement regarding whether this can be fixed or not," Ganz told the Post.
"However, the understanding that the current situation cannot continue is shared by everyone."We have learned in recent years that policy carried out by the State of Israel requires the support of the United States, which is a true friend", Ganz said. "We don't want to surprise them.
"Every Israeli decision requires preparation in the United States, and the goals of the Yesha Council are very clear: Preparing the ground in the US for the moment the Israeli government will choose to go forward with bigger plans."
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