A senior government minister tells Arutz Sheva - Israel National News that military achievements in the Gaza campaign, Iran, and other fronts should be leveraged to promote diplomatic achievements.
"This is the time to launch a plan for applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria in stages," he said. According to him, such a diplomatic move could serve as leverage for agreements with Saudi Arabia and other countries similar to the Abraham Accords.
The minister noted that "as happened in the past with the Emirates, gradual sovereignty can serve as a condition for additional agreements and the demand of those countries to halt the plan and from the Israeli side to serve as part of the victory in Gaza."
Before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to the United States at the beginning of the month, Likud ministers called for government approval of applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria immediately. "After our historic achievements - the work needs to be completed," they wrote in their appeal to Netanyahu.
Next Monday, a sovereignty event will be held in the Knesset initiated by MKs Dan Illouz, Katrin Shitrit-Peretz, and Moshe Passal (Likud), in cooperation with the Israel Forever Movement and the Sovereignty Movement. The event is expected to include Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Minister Eli Cohen, and Yesha Council Chairman Israel Ganz.
Meanwhile, the minister also addressed the political crisis surrounding the haredi draft. "There is no point in passing a law now that will damage Likud during an election period. If we pass the draft law after the holidays, the results of the law and the number of haredi draftees will be visible after a year, and the move will give the opposition a tool to attack us, claiming not only did we pass a bad draft law, but there are also no results and no draftees. The departure of the haredim from the government is a snowball effect that has started to roll and will lead to elections, and only Netanyahu can stop it. From the conversations I have had with the haredim, none of them want elections. We warned Netanyahu half a year ago that not passing the law would lead to this."
When asked if Netanyahu "fell asleep on duty," as the haredim claim, he replied, "You can't blame him. He is dealing with seven fronts and has a lot on his mind. But he should have given more attention to the draft law topic and brought a law agreed upon by everyone."
Regarding the possibility of elections, the minister said, "It is true that Likud is in a good position in the polls, but a hostage release deal and a gradual sovereignty plan may improve the situation even further and bring a better outcome."
As for the right-wing's chances to form a government after the elections, he warned, "The situation is not promising. The haredim are split, and there are also crises between Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and Maoz. We will need to make an effort to unite the bloc. It should also be remembered that the Arab list is expected to unite, and Meretz will not run, which will make it difficult for us. After all, left-wing and centrist parties have no problem forming a government with Arab parties. Going to elections on the draft law harms the possibility of forming a right-wing government again."