From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Source: Meeting with Netanyahu not positive
A source familiar with the meeting between settler leaders and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells The Times of Israel that he “would not have characterized it as positive.”
“It was a conversation between two sides that understand one another, even if we do not agree on all issues,” he said. “We passed along our concerns and [the Prime Minister’s Office] explained the complications on its end.”
Responding to an Army Radio report that claimed the meeting was meant to serve as a reprimand after the settler leaders’ campaign against the plan angered the Trump administration, the official says that no such rebuke was made.
The settler leaders who participated in the meeting were Yesha Council chairman and Jordan Valley Regional Council chairman David Elhayani, Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan, Binyamin Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz, Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz and Har Hebron Regional Council chairman Yochai Damri.
The five of them declined to speak on the record, saying they had accepted a request from the PMO not to leak information on the meeting to reporters.
The PMO says “the sides agreed to continue their dialogue.”
A statement from the Yesha umbrella council of settler mayors is far more terse. “The meeting lasted about two hours, and we expect the dialogue to continue.”
Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi, who has led a minority of West Bank mayors supporting the Trump plan and accordingly did not receive an invite to the PMO, tweets that the goal of the meeting was “an attempt to silence the screamers. Good luck.”
— Jacob Magid
