Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet ShakedReuters

Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley in the near future, and expressed her fear that Israel would miss a historic opportunity.

In a speech at the Knesset plenum, Shaked responded to MK Yair Golan of Meretz, who said that "the annexation dream of religious Zionism will not come true."

"He is wrong. Applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley is not the dream of a single sector. It is the fulfillment of the Zionist dream of all the people of Israel. But unfortunately, the fear that this historic opportunity will be missed still exists."

"Ambassador Friedman gave an interview with Yisrael Hayom about sovereignty in which he said: "We are ready. It is really a decision of the Israeli government." So I hope that the government that comes into being, whether we are part of it or not, will promote the application of sovereignty. This is a historic opportunity that will not return. There is a sympathetic president in the White House, who for the first time recognizes our historic right to Judea and Samaria and is ready to back a sovereignty decision, even if not in all areas of C, at least for the settlements, and this is an opportunity that must be exploited.''

Shaked expressed concern about the assurances of MKs Amir Peretz and Itzik Shmuly that they might be able to curb the push for sovereignty when they enter the government. "They say they will try to delay the process, try to stop it by handcuffs and restrictions, such as the agreement with Jordan or the consent of others in the region, which we will obviously not accept."

"I call on the Prime Minister, take this opportunity. This is a very short window of opportunity. The US is facing elections. I want you to take this opportunity and take this historic and important step."

Shaked also addressed the proposal to pass the overrule clause and wondered why Likud refused to promote the proposal this week. "We in the Yamina party faction wanted to take advantage of the basic laws, the laws of rotation and to discuss and vote on the overrule clause we have been talking about for so long. I have been here for 8 years as an MK, as Justice Minister. Every time we try to pass the overrule clause in the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Liberty and not only in the Basic Law of Freedom of Occupation and we never had a majority."

"There have always been fewer than 61 MKs who supported it. And this time, for the first time, there is a majority for the overrule clause. Likewise, Likud MKs say they support the cclause, as do the haredi parties and Yisrael Beyteinu. So I wonder why there is no time in committee hearings to devote a day or two to this clause.

"Since that didn't happen and the Likud took it off the agenda, I really hope that in the coming year, whether we are in the coalition or opposition, both the Likud and the haredi factions will join us in trying to pass this clause that balances the relations between the authorities and in my view improves the dialogue between the Knesset and the Supreme Court," Shaked said.