Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has updated the Cabinet on efforts by Israeli and American teams to map the West Bank territories envisioned as part of the sovereign state in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century.”
During the weekly session in Jerusalem, Netanyahu underscored that the process of “turning parts of the homeland in Judea and Samaria into part of the State of Israel forever” is underway and will be “as quickly as possible. He reassured the ministers that “My friend, President Trump clearly stated that he would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea and all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, as well as a broad area encompassing them.” The Premier added that, “For their part, the Americans will work with us.”
The Israeli leader also revealed that he reached agreement during his meeting with Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan earlier this month to work toward the formation of ties between Jerusalem and Khartoum. “An Israeli team will convene this week to formulate a plan to expand areas of cooperation,” said Netanyahu, “goal (of which) is – in the end – to reach the establishment of normalization and diplomatic relations between Israel and Sudan.”
Realization of this effort has already yielded some results. For the first time in history, an Israeli airliner passed through Sudanese airspace during flight from Congo’s Ndjili International Airport in Kinshasa to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport. While the rapprochement between Jerusalem and Khartoum is the latest in Israel’s warming ties with Muslim and Arab states; Netanyahu emphasized that it is only the beginning. “We are in the midst of a normalization process with a large number of Arab and Islamic countries,” he declared, adding, “You only see part of this; it is the tip of the iceberg above the surface of the water. Beneath the surface of the water, there are yet many processes that are changing the face of the Middle East and are also placing Israel as a regional and global power. This is the fruit of our policy. We are cultivating the strength of Israel.”