Bennett: Outpost bill paves way for annexing West Bank

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the Jewish Home party leader, says that the settlement bill going before the Knesset will change the government’s policy from the establishment of a future Palestinian state in the West Bank to the annexation of Judea and Samaria.

He tells reporters it’s a “historic day,” describing it as the day Israel buried the two-state solution and kicked off the process of annexing the West Bank.

“If this law does indeed pass, one could say that the revolution of ’77 happened here again, because today the national camp has returned to govern,” he says, referring to the election of the Likud party under Menachem Begin to power. “It’s a historic day.”

“Today, the Israeli Knesset shifted from a path to establish a Palestinian state, to a path of extending sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. Let there be no doubt, the regulation bill is what will spearhead the extension of [Israeli] sovereignty,” a smiling Bennett says.

He thanks the prime minister for his support.

— with Marissa Newman