Hours before President Donald Trump is scheduled to reveal his “deal of the century” peace plan, Yesha Council – an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the liberated territories – decided on Tuesday to oppose the plan, even at the cost of giving up Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria.
The decision was reached following a meeting that was held Monday night between senior Yesha Council members who are in Washington for the White House event and administration officials. The latter have made it clear to the settlements’ leaders that the Trump plan involves negotiating for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Yesha Council Chairman David Alhaini told Reshet Bet radio on Tuesday that he was aghast at the fact that Netanyahu had agreed to a two-state solution: “We came to Washington to bolster the prime minister and congratulate Donald Trump,” he said, “But after we worked things out, we realized that the peace plan includes a Palestinian state. I am stunned that Netanyahu agrees to a Palestinian state in the territories of Judea and Samaria.”
Channel 13 News cited one Yesha Council leader in DC who said, “We decided to stop with the total blindness of following Netanyahu regarding the deal. We realized that the Americans see this plan as a real estate deal: a percentage of the territory goes to you, another percentage to the Palestinians; you take sovereignty, they’ll get a state. This is not acceptable to us.”
But Efrat Council Head Oded Revivi told Army radio that “the initiative seeks to outline a vision that if we succeed in realizing, would secure a safe haven for Israel, even without a sympathetic administration like one we have today.”