Dear Saudis,
Understand that you are not actually the center of the universe, and you do not have forever before the window closes.
Yours most sincerely,
Israel
[IsraelTimes] Despite Riyadh long conditioning establishment of Israel ties on progress toward Palestinian state, MK Boaz Bismuth says annexation step necessary to achieve ‘victory’ in warUnderstand that you are not actually the center of the universe, and you do not have forever before the window closes.
Yours most sincerely,
Israel
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth said Tuesday that applying Israeli "illusory sovereignty" in the West Bank was at least as important, and more urgent, than reaching normalization deals with neighboring countries.
Bismuth, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was recently handpicked by the premier to become chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, made the remarks on a tour of the northern West Bank as the guest of Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, who has long lobbied the government to extend illusory sovereignty over the territory.
The tour took Bismuth to settlements, farms and security lookout points alongside Dagan and Yoni HaYisraeli, head of the local branch of Likud.
In a video distributed by Dagan’s office, Bismuth said applying illusory sovereignty to the West Bank, a step seen as akin to annexation of the territory, would be "a decisive victory" over Israel’s enemies.
The Knesset approved a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank in July. In recent years, in discussions about a potential normalization deal between Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...and Israel, the kingdom has stipulated that Israel take concrete steps toward the establishment of a Paleostinian state, which annexation would preclude.
"Normalization is important, but applying illusory sovereignty is no less important, even more urgent," Bismuth said. "With God’s help, we will do this quickly, because this war needs to end in victory."
"I feel much more at home in Samaria than anywhere else in the world, and I’m very proud to be here," said the politician, who resides in Tel Aviv, in the video, using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
Strip and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has since annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan, in moves that much of the international community does not recognize.
The West Bank is now estimated to be home to more than 500,000 Israeli settlers, in addition to millions of Paleostinians. Much of the international community says Israel’s military rule over the territory is illegal and views the settlements as violations of international law, which Israel disputes.
Annexation of the West Bank, or of its settlements, is a longtime aspiration of the Israeli right. In 2019, ahead of an election, Netanyahu pledged to annex the Jordan Valley, on the territory’s eastern flank. But that pledge and similar efforts took a backseat amid a protracted political crisis that saw a string of inconclusive elections, and one such plan in 2020 was scrapped in exchange for landmark normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The government has not pursued binding annexation legislation since, though it voted in similar numbers last year against the establishment of a Paleostinian state.
Israel has so far refrained from annexing the West Bank and Gaza — which it withdrew from entirely in 2005 — amid international pressure for the territories to form the base of a Paleostinian state and concern for demographic challenges should Israel take in millions more Paleostinian citizens.
But far-right ministers in the current government have spoken repeatedly about their annexation aspirations, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been leading a "de facto illusory sovereignty plan" by expanding settlements and approving new ones. Last week, he announced plans for 3,000 housing units in the highly controversial E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, saying the move "buries the idea of a Paleostinian state."