by Jerusalem Post Staff
Efrat Council Chairman, Col. (res.) Dovi Shefler said that the visit came at a time of "historic opportunity to apply full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria."
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US Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited Efrat in the West Bank on Friday, the Efrat Municipality announced.
Huckabee returned to the town for a social visit following a previous declaration to buy a house there, and participated in Shabbat prayers at the Shirat David synagogue.
"US Ambassador Mike Huckabee's visit to Efrat strengthens settlement in Judea and Samaria and illustrates the importance of Efrat as a central axis in settlement," Efrat Council Chairman, Col. (res.) Dovi Shefler said on the visit.
"This is a time of historic opportunity to apply full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, and thereby establish our national and international status. Efrat is a magnet for Jews from both Israel and abroad, and the ambassador’s visit is further proof of the importance and resilience of the settlement."
Huckabee previously laid the cornerstone at a then-new neighborhood in Efrat, and has joked about buying a home there.
US reportedly supports Israeli sovereignty over West Bank
“I’m building because I one day might want to purchase a holiday home here in Efrat,” he joked in 2018.“I certainly can say that the president [Trump] would be very proud to see beautiful, wonderful, thriving neighborhoods being built.”
Huckabee highlighted that the US would let Israel make its own decisions on the West Bank in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“That’s really not the president’s style,” Huckabee said. “He may express his own opinions, but he has not waded into the waters of saying, ‘you ought to annex this or that.’ He just hasn’t. I think he respects that Israel is a sovereign country.”
Several Israeli officials told the Post that the possibility of applying sovereignty “to certain areas” is being seriously considered, but Netanyahu has yet to make a final decision on the matter.
In recent weeks, senior US officials have conveyed to their Israeli counterparts that “the decision on sovereignty lies in Israel’s hands,” according to two sources familiar with the discussions. These sources added that while the message was not a full green light for any move, it also wasn’t a red light. One official said, “The Americans are telling Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials: first decide what you want – then talk to us.”
Amichai Stein and Alex Winston contributed to this report.
Jerusalem Post Staff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-865901
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