Lawmakers vote 71-13 in favor of non-binding motion calling for West Bank annexation

Knesset lawmakers vote 71-13 in favor of a non-binding motion for the agenda in favor of annexing the West Bank in the Knesset today.

“The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” declares Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana following the vote, adding that “Jews cannot be the occupiers” of their own ancestral homeland.

“This is our land. This is our home. The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. In 1967, the occupation did not begin; it ended, and our homeland was returned to its rightful owners. We are the original first natives of this piece of land. Jews cannot be the ‘occupier’ of a land that for 3,000 years has been called Judea,” says Ohana.

“These are truths that no false narrative can change. This is the historical truth…and this is also the one and only way to achieve true peace through strength and to destroy the false hopes that throb in the hearts of our enemies that we will disappear, be expelled or withdraw from our homeland. We are here to stay.”

The motion, advanced by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, Likud MK Dan Illouz and Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, describes Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley as “an inseparable part of the historical homeland of the Jewish people” and calls for applying Israeli sovereignty to these areas.

“This move would make it clear to the world that Israel will not accept solutions that involve dangerous territorial concessions, and that it is committed to its future as a secure Jewish state,” the proposal states.