Ayelet Shaked: ‘Enough talk, time to take action on Jordan Valley annexation’

MK Ayelet Shaked (New Right) called Wednesday morning for the immediate application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, backing similar calls from Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

In an interview with Aryeh Golan Wednesday morning, Shaked urged immediate action towards the application of Israeli sovereignty over the strategic area on Israel’s eastern border, arguing Israel had a unique opportunity to secure the area and place it directly under Israeli law.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to do this. There is a friendly and supportive administration in the US. We need to take advantage of this opportunity…and carry out the process,” Shaked continued, adding that the center-left Blue and White party should also back the immediate application of Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley. If the party declines to do so, she added, it would prove party chairman Benny Gantz’s recent statements regarding annexation to be false.

On Tuesday, Gantz vowed to promote the application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, but fell short of calling for unilateral annexation, calling instead for “cooperation” with the international community.

Shaked cited then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights, noting that the move was taken unilaterally, without American approval beforehand.

Begin “said that if he were to ask the Americans, they would refuse, and he wouldn’t be able to do it. So he simply went ahead and did it. We need to move from talk to action. There is an understanding and support from the US for this process.”