MK Yariv Levin
MK Yariv LevinFlash 90

MK Yariv Levin (Likud), chairman of the Knesset’s House Committee, told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday that he has a bill that calls to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria that is ready to be submitted for Knesset approval.

Levin said that if the Palestinian Authority goes ahead with its statehood bid at the United Nations, he will submit his bill for approval immediately after January’s election.

"Regardless of the Palestinian move we should have applied sovereignty long ago," said Levin, "but the unilateral move by the Palestinians is a good time to do so.”

He said Israel should announce right away about all the measures it intends to take the day after PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas submits his bid to the General Assembly.

“Our response should not come retroactively. It should come right now,” said Levin. “We should prepare a draft decision that adopts Justice Edmund Levy’s report in full, and complete the submission of the bills which call for Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. The bills are ready and can be submitted immediately after the election.”

The Foreign Ministry has told its ambassadors to explain that the PA’s plan to ask for UN recognition is a violation of the Oslo Accords and may cause Israel to officially announce that it is “canceling them partially or completely.” 

The agreement commits the PA to negotiate with Israel for the establishment of an independent PA entity.

Levin said he believes that the decision to cancel the Oslo Accords will eventually force Israel to re-enter Area A.

"Israel cannot continue to sit back. We need to make clear to the world that we believe in the rightness of our ways,” he said. “We need to stop the transfer of money to the PA and we need to renew the IDF's operations in Area A.”

“The reality that has been created now is dramatic,” stressed Levin. “The other side made ​​a unilateral move and our response should be adjusted accordingly. If we do not respond it may lead us to a slippery slope."

Environment Minister Gilad Erdan of the Likud also said, earlier on Wednesday, that Israel should annex Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as a response to Abbas’ appeal to the United Nations.

Canceling the Oslo Accords, as the government has suggested, is not enough, he said. “Finally, Jews in Judea and Samaria can live like normal citizens,” declared Erdan.

Like Levin, Erdan said he believed that Israel should stop transferring to the Palestinian Authority monthly tax revenues it collects on its behalf.

Abbas announced on Monday that the PA will present its bid for non-state UN membership, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition.

He said that the request will be presented on November 29, the anniversary of the day in 1947 in which the United Nations voted in favor of the partition plan. The resolution recommended the creation of two states, one Arab, one Jewish and granted a small portion of the area, under the British Mandate, to the new Jewish state.

The announcement was made a day after Abbas responded to U.S. President Barack Obama with a direct “no” when told the U.S. administration is opposed to the PA’s unilateral move at the United Nations.