Gabi Ashkenazi
Gabi AshkenaziKobi Richter/ TPS

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) on Monday morning spoke to Kan Bet regarding the issue of Israeli sovereignty and whether the current government will sit out its term.

"We need to maintain it, it's only been a month and a half," Ashkenazi said. "Everyone understands that we need a serious leadership, which puts most of its efforts into fighting coronavirus and the recovery of the economy."

At this point, he added, a strong and responsible government is needed, and no one is interested in early elections.

"The public expects us to act in a responsible and mature fashion, and to deal with what is bothering them," he said, emphasizing the need for a long-term economic plan, including for retraining those who were laid off, helping small businesses, and encouraging investments in the business sector with loans which have guarantees from the government.

"We need to to put out reforms to encourage employment and growth in transportation infrastructure, digitization, and more, and we're working on that," he said.

Regarding the issue of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, Ashkenazi said that his party supports the Trump plan as a whole, since it leads to separation from the Palestinian Authority.

"The plan provides for the two main needs which distress most citizens of the State of Israel," he claimed. "On the one hand it preserves the nation's security, and it also preserves the Jewish majority - meaning, the Jewish state."

When asked if he supports a Palestinian state, Ashkenazi said that he is in favor of negotiations with Israel's neighbors to create a separate entity which we will be able to separate from, since "we are not in favor of annexing three million Palestinians. We are in favor of a process which will lead to peace. We don't want to harm the peace agreements with our neighbors."

This stance, he said, is representative of the entire government, not just Blue and White: "I believe that the Israeli government, led by [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz will be sure to execute a responsible and calculated process, and that after it hears the projected scenarios, it will make decisions."

He also said that after conversations with dozens of European foreign ministers, Israel knows what it is facing and things will not happen "in the next day or two." Regarding whether Israel has abandoned its plans to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, Ashkenazi answered that he did not know, but that his ministry is preparing for the next steps.