Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Reuven Rivlin Stakes Israel Claim to Rule West Bank

Israel’s right to rule the West Bank “is not a matter of political debate,” President Reuven Rivlin said.

Meeting Monday with West Bank leaders, Rivlin also said that “settlement of the land of Israel” is an expression of that claim, which puts Israel on a collision course with the rest of the world and conflicts dramatically with its stated goal of working toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Rivlin called the settlers “pioneers,” saying that they “pay along with the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, the heaviest price.”

“The settlements are at the forefront of the struggle, and the price paid by the settlers is a painful price indeed,” he said at the meeting at his residence in Jerusalem with nearly 20 heads of regional and municipal councils, including Yesha Council chairman Avi Roeh. “We must, and are able to, deal with the current wave of terrorism, to fight it, and not allow anyone to disrupt our daily lives.”

Rivlin added: “Our sovereignty in this land means responsibility for all those who live here, and obliges all of us to uphold the strictest of moral codes, which is inherent in each and every one of us. I know that the settlement movement as a whole has confirmed this moral and ethical stance, and I want to strengthen and encourage you, on this clear standpoint.”

Roeh told Rivlin that the unofficial freeze on building public infrastructure and development in the West Bank is “causing serious harm to the citizens and the children.”

Israel seized the West Bank in a 1967 war. The world considers the West Bank occupied land and the Palestinians plan to establish their own state there.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.