Israeli political parties usually hold their weekly meetings in the Knesset. On Jan. 2, HaBayit HaYehudi held its weekly meeting in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement town located east of Jerusalem on territory that Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and has since occupied. The decision to move this particular meeting to Maale Adumim at the start of the new year constituted a bold political statement.
Education Minister and HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett and his partner in the party’s leadership, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, have been doing everything they can to make it crystal clear that the age of restraint is over and the age of annexation is about to begin. In keeping with this outlook, Bennett announced that he plans to submit a proposal to the government to annex Maale Adumim. Bennett’s ultimate objective is to declare the annexation of all of Israel’s major settlement blocs in the occupied territories and apply Israeli law in them while the current Israeli government is in office. Bennett announced, “By the end of January, we will propose legislation to impose Israeli law on Maale Adumim. I expect all members of the government to lend a hand to this important initiative.”
We are already halfway through January, and no such proposal has been brought before the government. One senior member of HaBayit HaYehudi told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, “We still don’t know when we will submit the proposed legislation. It really depends on our talks with the [Donald] Trump administration. In any event, there is nothing to talk about until Trump is in the White House. Then we’ll see.”
No one can remember the last time that Jews waited for anyone — apart from the Messiah, for whom they have longingly waited since the dawn of history — with the kind of eager anticipation they have of Trump taking office. One Likud member jokingly told Al-Monitor that the people of Israel expect Trump to forgo Air Force One and come riding in on a white donkey, as Jewish tradition has the Messiah arriving. The Israeli right’s expectations in regard to the new president are sky high. They are waiting for him to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, remove the restraints on everything involving construction in the territories, stop talking about peace and a two-state solution and quietly recognize Israeli annexation of the settlement blocs.
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