Netanyahu: "Prepared to Act More Broadly in Judea and Samaria"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today (Sunday) at the start of the cabinet meeting that he will fly to Washington tomorrow to meet with President Donald Trump. The meeting will take place on Tuesday.

Netanyahu also noted that afterward he will take part in the memorial ceremony for a great friend of Israel, Senator Lindsey Graham. Netanyahu added: "I have to say that he was one of Israel’s greatest friends since its founding, and it is fitting that we pay him this honor." According to the prime minister, "I will speak with President Trump about all the issues on the agenda, including the situation in Iran."

Addressing the situation in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu said the instructions given to the security forces are "to enter the villages, search them, seize weapons, arrest suspects. These things have been done and are being done right now. The forces also operated in the hospital in Nablus, where two accomplices who were hiding there were arrested."

The prime minister also said that the terrorist’s home has been sealed ahead of its demolition, and that the homes of the accomplices have also been mapped out ahead of steps being taken against them. "We are also prepared to act more broadly against terror hubs."

Later in his remarks, Netanyahu addressed the decision to remove the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. According to him, the decision exposed "his real motivation, the injustice, and the deep corruption that exists not only in the prosecutor’s office, but throughout the entire international court." Netanyahu said he spoke last night with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, he said, reiterated America’s intention "to act forcefully against this organization that endangers justice in the world." The prime minister added that this is a "very positive development."

Regarding reports of a further Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Netanyahu said: "Contrary to what is being heard in the media, we have not withdrawn from the original Yellow Line in Lebanon by even a millimeter. There are two pilot areas: in one of them, we did not have even a single soldier, so there was no withdrawal from a place where we were not present. In the second place, north of the Litani, for the most part we were not there at all, and in the other part we took territory temporarily beyond the original Yellow Line. Therefore, we are maintaining the original security zone and are not moving from it."

Netanyahu also addressed UNESCO’s decision to declare Sebastia in Samaria a Palestinian heritage site: "The Palestinians did not build anything here. Ancient Samaria, or Sebastia, is a place that was established 1,500 years before there was a single Palestinian here."