The Israeli government is preparing to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and Israeli towns throughout Judea and Samaria, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said Wednesday morning, but it will not be able to do so by next Sunday, as was previously suggested. Levin, who is in Washington with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said in an interview with Kan Bet Wednesday morning the plan to apply sovereignty to Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, as well as the Jordan Valley, would not be brought to the Cabinet next Sunday as originally suggested, since it would take the government more time to prepare for the move. The Minister said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit would need “a few days to prepare” before the process of applying sovereignty is initiated. “We won’t be ready by Sunday to bring the annexation proposal to the government, due to paperwork and government regulations. But it will happen in the near future.” “We said quite clearly that we want this and it is important to reach an agreement based on this plan. The Israeli government has conducted negotiations in the past based on plans less favorable to Israel; the Trump plan considers Israel’s interests. It puts a long list of conditions which will take the Palestinians years to agree to.” On Tuesday , following the release of the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, Binyamin Netanyahu announced that he would apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and all Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria immediately, with additional areas to be brought under Israeli sovereignty after consultations with the US. "Israel immediately receives American recognition for the application of Israeli law on the Jordan Valley and the Northern Dead Sea and all the settlements. All is included. Israel treats all settlements equally. The law in Itamar is the same as the law in Tel Aviv," Netanyahu declared. "Applying Israeli law will be done in two steps. First, I will approve the government's decision at the upcoming meeting to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and all settlements. After working in Israel and in coordination with the US, the Israeli law will be applied to additional areas. It's going to take some time." "We will cancel the military administration over half a million Israelis in the settlements following the government's decision. After the implementation of Israeli law, all restrictions on construction and other issues will be removed," the prime minister promised.
