Former US president Donald Trump authorized then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex parts of Judea and Samaria, in a letter obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
In a three-page letter dated January 26, 2020, two days before Trump presented his Vision for Peace in the White House, the president summarized some of its details. These included that Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, as delineated in the map included in the plan if Netanyahu agreed to a Palestinian state in the remaining territory on that map.
“We will also work to create a contiguous territory within the future Palestinian state for when the conditions for statehood are met, including the firm rejection of terrorism,” Trump said. AFSI does not support any vision for a Palestinian state.
A Trump administration source closely involved with the president’s letter said that “it was a key part of Israel’s acceptance of the Vision for Peace as the framework for negotiations [with the Palestinians] for America to accept sovereignty up front, as per the mapping process and the plan, and for all the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley to be included.
We are grateful for President Trump’s enormous support for Israel and wonder what would have transpired if this plan had been executed. To hear that sovereignty was close to fruition is music to our ears. However, even though Trump’s plan set conditions for PA statehood being met, including the firm rejection of terrorism, AFSI’s position does not accept a PA state. With the PA perpetually refusing to accept Israel’s right to exist and putting a complete stop to terrorism against Israel, it seems not too much would have changed under Trump’s plan.
It is our belief that there must be many more Jewish neighborhoods (“settlements”) in Judea and Samaria and that the Arabs must immediately be stopped from all illegal activity including building and demolition in areas designated under the (failed) Oslo Accords for Jews. Of course, to take it one step further we believe that the PA would be unable to govern a state and it would soon be controlled by Hamas or another Iranian terror proxy.