Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with the heads of the settler movement to discuss the sovereignty bid he plans to promote over the next few weeks.
Israel's plan to apply sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley has received near-unanimous support on the Right, but members the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, have been at odds over the plan, with several prominent members on the council actively trying to foil it.
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Several settler leaders were expected to meet with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) on Tuesday morning, in an effort to convince him to oppose the "deal of the century." Israel Hayom has learned that they plan to meet with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Wednesday.
Netanyahu assured the council that he will protect Israel's interests, saying that the Trump administration has presented the Jewish state with 'a historic opportunity that cannot be missed."
The national-religious Yamina faction, which is comprised of the New Right and National Union parties, met Monday with settler leaders who oppose the plan and have pledged to fight it.
"US President Donald Trump has proven to be a great friend to Israel and we are grateful to him," Yamina leader Naftali Bennett said. "Applying Israeli sovereignty to these areas of the land of Israel is a historic act, but establishing a Palestinian terrorist state at the heart of our country will be an existential disaster. Once the map and plan are finalized, we will make our decision [about whether or not to vote in favor of the bid]."
Yesha Council Head David Elhayani, who also serves as head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, said that "as a council head I have a lot to lose, so I say, 'No, thank you,' to Trump's peace plan and to a Palestinian state, and 'Yes' to [applying] sovereignty."
"We have a public responsibility not only on our own [local] level but on a national level. We want to present the risks and make it clear that we will not allow a terrorist state to be formed in the heart of Israel."
Shlomo Ne'eman, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, accused Washington of breaching past commitments on the issue.
"I was in Washington and I supported the plan but the changes made to it since [it was first introduced as a draft], and especially freezing construction [in the settlements] have changed my mind. Now I'm against it.
"We have some hard questions and we demand the prime minister provides the answers," Ne'eman said. "We demand he opposes changes [to the plan] that would suffocate the settlements."
Monday also saw Defense Minister Benny Gantz meet with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi to discuss the implementation of the sovereignly plan.
A statement by Gantz's office said he ordered the military to prepare for the fallout from the controversial annexation, asking the military chief to "speed up the [troops'] readiness ahead of political steps on the agenda concerning the Palestinian arena."
Gantz said he ordered Kochavi to "examine all the ramifications and the required preparations" stemming from moving ahead with the implementation of the "deal of the century."
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