Bennett says West Bank annexation will follow Amona evacuation

The evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost Amona will lead to Israel’s annexation of the entire West Bank, Education Minister Naftali Bennett vows.

“From this legal defeat we will establish a new legal regime in Judea and Samaria that will regulate the entirety of settlements, and from the painful loss of this foothold in this mountain will emerge the State of Israel’s application of sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria,” he says at a Knesset debate.

“From the ruins of Amona’s houses we will build a new settlement,” he says. “From the destroyed kindergartens will be established new kindergartens all across Judea and Samaria.”

Bennett calls the residents of Amona “heroes” and hails their determination to remain steadfast on this windy hilltop, defying harsh conditions in their struggle to settle the Land of Israel even after it emerged that their outpost was built on private Palestinian land.

“We fought a hard fight but we were confronted with a final court order by the High Court of Justice. We came to Amona and looked the residents in the eye. We knew that we were embarking on a struggle against all odds, but we didn’t give up. Together with the residents, we turned around every stone, we explored all possibilities and exhausted all ways to save Amona. To our regret, the struggle over Amona was not successful. We lost the battle, but we will in the war over the Land of Israel.”

— Raphael Ahren