In a special interview with Arutz Sheva, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his declaration regarding the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria does not come suddenly ahead of the elections, but rather is the continuation of a trend he has been promoting for several months.
"I prefer to do it with American support. I spoke about it with the relevant authorities and it takes time to coordinate. I am not talking about the entire area, but first of all about the settlements. Not just the blocs, but the blocs and the isolated settlements, I do not abandon them or transfer them to Palestinian rule, which would destroy them."
When asked whether he is committed to the non-establishment of a Palestinian state, the prime minister says, "There will be no Palestinian state, not as people talk about it. It will not be because I am making sure of it. I am not uprooting settlements, rather applying sovereignty to them. I am maintaining a united Jerusalem and I am maintaining our control on the entire area west of the Jordan River to prevent another Gaza. This is my policy. I told that to the Americans, President Trump and President Obama. Vice President Biden told me that this is not a state. I told him to call it whatever he wanted. He said it was not sovereignty. I said that that’s what I'm willing to do, that's all. "
"No one has fought for Judea and Samaria as I fought. Who could have stood against a government of more than eight years of Obama's administration that came and pressed you all the time? I stood up and pushed off those pressures. I brought President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem, the transfer of the embassy and the recognition in the Golan Heights, which is very important to what I plan in Judea and Samaria," says Netanyahu, who added he intends to carry out the annexation gradually and with agreement.
On the historic 2009 Bar-Ilan speech in which he endorsed Palestinian statehood, Netanyahu says that he does not regret it, but added that what he said afterward deserves attention. According to him, when asked to explain his intentions, he made it clear the next day that he intended to give the Palestinians all the capabilities to manage their lives and nothing beyond that, a statement which was told did not actually speak of a state. "The point is that I repelled pressure for withdrawal. I am against uprooting not one just one community, but one resident."
On the evacuations carried out under his leadership in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu says that these were three evictions forced upon him by the court, and he gave them a proper response when Amichai was built in place of Amona; after the destruction of nine houses in Ofra, 90 houses began to be built; after the destruction in Netiv Ha’avot, 350 houses were approved. "We destroyed a little and built a lot, and now we have approved 18,000 housing units. There was no such construction before. In the next term, I intend to gradually apply Israeli law to the settlements in Judea and Samaria."