Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev ElkinFlash 90

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud-Beytenu) hammered the plan being floated by Prime Miniser Binyamin Netanyahu's bureau, according to which Jewish communities will be left intact under Palestinian sovereignty, in a future peace deal.

"Only someone who can live under the illusion of 'and the wolf shall live with the lamb' and that the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens can be left to the mercy of the perpetrators of the lynch in Ramallah, can really believe that the security of the residents of greater Tel Aviv and central Israel can be safeguarded in case a Palestinian state is established,” Elkin said.

"The suggestions by anonymous sources in the Prime Minister's bureau are diametrically opposed to the Zionist concept,” he added. “Whoever is pulling the prime minister in such delusional directions wants to cause a schism between him and Likud, and the entire national camp.”

The chairman of the grassroots Samaria Residents' Council, Benny Katzover, said that Netanyahu had “reached a new low” with his latest idea. “In the guise of enlightenment and the refusal to uproot and evict Jews from their homes, he opts for a despicable move in which he is willing to leave 100 thousand Jews at the mercy of the Palestinian police.”

Deputy Knesset Speaker, MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home), said in response to Netanyahu's offer – “In my naiveté, I thought that post-Zionism is the New Left's legacy. Netanyahu has proven otherwise... Jews under Palestinian sovereignty constitutes irresponsibility on an unprecedented level.”