Ma'ale Adumim Demands Sovereignty as Knesset Opens Winter Session

Jerusalem, 31 October, 2016 (TPS) -- Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel, Knesset members and supporters of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria called Monday on the government to bring the city under Israeli sovereignty.

Speaking at a demonstration outside the Knesset as the legislature prepared to open it’s winter session, Kashriel cited polls that 80 percent of Israelis want to apply sovereignty over his city, located six kilometers (four miles) east of Jerusalem.

“This is a democratic country,” Kashriel told protesters. “That means the government has a responsibility to listen to the public. There is no reason not to apply Israeli sovereignty to Ma’ale Admumim and to re-start building in the city.” He said that Prime Minister Netanyahu and government ministers had a responsibility to the Israeli public to bring the city under Israeli sovereignty.

The protest marked the opening of a campaign sponsored by the Ma’ale Adumim municipality, in cooperation with the Regavim movement and the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council. Kashriel, Deputy Mayor Guy Ifrah and city residents started the day with a protest convoy of cars, trucks and buses from city hall to the Knesset. Ahead of the demonstration, Ifrah told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) that the push to bring the city under Israeli sovereignty has continued for decades.

“Ma’ale Adumim has struggled in recent years to unfreeze construction in the city. Attempts to apply Israeli sovereignty over Ma’ale Adumim started in the 90s, and the annexation bill then initiated by MK Emanuel Zisman (Labor) failed by only two votes,” Ifrah said.

“[In addition, in] May 2016 a Midgam Institute survey showed that 80% of Israelis were in favor of establishing Israeli sovereignty over the city… the time is ripe to transform this impetus into practical legislation.

“We also want to use the fact that all our prime ministers have supported Ma’ale Adumim and saw the city as an integral part of Israel,“ he stated.

The campaign will feature giant billboards at the entrance to Jerusalem and around the Knesset, featuring late president Shimon Peres, former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, along with the slogan “Following in their Path.” It also features statements by the former leaders supporting the issue of Israeli sovereignty for Ma’ale Adumim to prove the legitimacy of the enterprise.

But left-wing politicians and members of the Peres family slammed the use of the former president, who died last month, saying the pro-settlement movement used a 30-year-old quote, taken out of context, to indicate that Peres supported the sovereignty movement. They said that members of the protest movement know full well that that Peres’ views had changed by the time he died.

“Peres fought with all his might for peace. There is no limit to the campaigners’ cynicism. They know full well that Peres opposed the Occupation with all his might,” Dr. Rafi Walden, Peres’ son-in-law, told Army Radio.

The demonstration comes as the settlement community is battling a series of High Court of Justice rulings to raze Israeli communities that Palestinians  say were built on privately-owned land. Pro-settlement groups are pressing the government to pass legislation to retroactively legalize homes in the Amona, Ofra and Netiv Ha’avot communities. The court has given the government until December 25 to complete the eviction and demolition of the Amona community.

Asked about the potential implications of the Ma’ale Adumim campaign on the campaign to legalize Amona, Guy Ifrah made a clear differentiation between the issues:

“No one claims that Maale Adumim was built on land privately owned by Palestinians, so the two issues are separate,” explained Ifrah.  

“But I believe that our campaign does not detract from the endeavor to regulate the issues of Amona and Ofra and vice versa. On the contrary: These efforts reinforce each other. [We hope] the most right-wing government in a decade will carry out its mandate and resolve the settlement policy in Judea and Samaria,” he claimed.