George Papadopoulos with Yossi Dagan
George Papadopoulos with Yossi DaganArutz Sheva

In light of Prime Minister Binyamin Netayhau's request to delay the vote on the bill to extend Israeli law over the city of Ma'aleh Adumim until after his meeting with US President Donald Trump, Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, met with one of President Trump's advisers. The adviser told him that Trump looks favorably on the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria.

Dagan, who attended Trump's inauguration last Friday, has met with a number of associates of Trump, including his foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, who has written several op-eds for Arutz Sheva in the past. Papadopoulos told Dagan: "We hope that 2017 will be a great year for the residents of Judea and Samaria."

Papadopoulos also hinted that Trump would be well-disposed towards the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. "We are looking forward to ushering in a new relationship between the United States and all of Israel, including the historical Judea and Samaria."

Dagan spoke of "the wind that is blowing because of the Trump Administration is a wind that is favorable to the 'settlements.' We heard these things from a number of close associates [of the President]. If it is then we must go to the Likud headquarters so the Likud institutions can decide [on policy for Judea and Samaria]."

He said that Israel must use the freedom the Trump Administration will provide to form its own policy on Judea and Samaria. "After eight years in which [we could not build] because of the Obama Administration, and bills regarding construction and sovereignty were blocked, we will not accept excuses about a US government which is sympathetic to Israel and to Judea and Samaria. It seems that there is someone who is to the right of Netanyahu, and it isn't Bennett."

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