The ruling Israeli Likud party convened on Sunday, to vote on urging party leaders to formally annex the occupied West Bank to Israel, and allow unlimited construction of illegal Jewish settlements.
A number of party heavyweights have released statements or videos expressing support for the vote, which took place at the Avenue Conference Center, near Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli newspaper Times of Israel said.
They include Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz.
Likud, Israel's ruling party, votes to annex parts of West Bank. Chances are the decision will not be implemented, but if anybody still thinks Israeli government is at all interested in a two state solution (or any peaceful solution at that) – here's one more good wake up call
— Haggai Matar (@Ha_Matar) December 31, 2017
The keynote address was reportedly given to longtime Netanyahu opponent and former cabinet minister Gideon Sa’ar, also a backer of the resolution.
Likud activists in the illegal settlements of the occupied West Bank who gathered over 900 signatures of Central Committee members, called for allowing the resolution to be presented without requiring the consent of party leaders.
Israel's governing Likud party approves draft resolution calling for annexation of parts of occupied West Bank https://t.co/cMXxPz7WXp
— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) January 1, 2018
The resolution reads: “Fifty years after the liberation of Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], and with them Jerusalem, our eternal capital, the Likud Central Committee calls on Likud’s elected leaders to work to allow unhindered construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty in all the areas of liberated settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
(IMEMC, PC, Social Media)
