Sa'ar rallies for Jordan Valley (file)
Sa'ar rallies for Jordan Valley (file)Flash90

Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud), MK Yariv Levin (Likud) and MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home) spoke at the opening ceremony Friday morning of a nationalist march in the Jordan Valley. 

"We are here with a clear and simple statement - the Jordan Valley belongs to Israel!" Sa'ar declared. "We are here to strengthen the residents of the Valley in their shlichut [mission to settle or help Jewish communities in a place for the sake of Israel - ed.] for the Jewish people. Know that communities in the Jordan Valley will remain and thrive for generations to come." 

"Israel's security requires strategic depth," Sa'ar continued. "It is impossible to think that Israel's borders will not be along the Valley. The alternative is that the border will be along Kfar Sava and Netanya, and that is unacceptable."

"It is therefore so important [that Jewish communities] stay here. Remember: where there are communities, there is the IDF. Where there are no communities, there is no IDF - only terrorism." 

"It is our inalienable right to build and continue building in the Jordan Valley and throughout the land of Israel," Levin added. "We are determined [to keep it] and we know the truth will prevail".

"We are stronger than any attempts to uproot us from our Land."

Struk added that the interior minister's presence was to show that the Jordan Valley is an internal Israeli matter and that giving it away is not an item on the diplomatic agenda. 

The issue of the Jordan Valley has become a point of contention in the talks between Israel and the PA, which insists on full control of the Jordan Valley – along with all other land that was under Jordanian control from 1948 to 1967. Israeli experts have warned that the area is strategically critical.