Likud MK Boaz Bismuth said Tuesday that applying Israeli “sovereignty” in the West Bank was at least as important, and more urgent, than reaching normalization deals with neighboring countries.

Bismuth, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was recently handpicked by the premier to become chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, made the remarks on a tour of the northern West Bank as the guest of Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, who has long lobbied the government to extend sovereignty over the territory.

The tour took Bismuth to settlements, farms and security lookout points alongside Dagan and Yoni HaYisraeli, head of the local branch of Likud.

In a video distributed by Dagan’s office, Bismuth said applying sovereignty to the West Bank, a step seen as akin to annexation of the territory, would be “a decisive victory” over Israel’s enemies.

The Knesset approved a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank in July. In recent years, in discussions about a potential normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, the kingdom has stipulated that Israel take concrete steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, which annexation would........

© The Times of Israel