US reps. to Trump: Don’t evacuate settlements
US President Donald Trump will face opposition if his peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict includes the evacuation of West Bank settlements, two visiting US Republican Congressmen said on Wednesday.
Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY) and Andy Harris (R-MD) toured the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank on Tuesday and the Samaria region on Wednesday.
They were quizzed about their attitudes toward the evacuation of settlements, should such a move be included in the peace plan Trump is expected to roll out after Israel’s April 9th election.
“I would be against it,” Barr said of any settlement evacuation plan.
“Our job after witnessing what we have seen here today is to communicate to the administration that the best way forward for peace and prosperity for everyone, Jews and Arabs, is more industrial development here, where we can have integration and not segregation, that is the path to peace,” Barr said.
He added that “free enterprise, where everyone has the opportunity for upward mobility and prosperity, working together is the best way forward for peace.”
Harris said, “I think the president has shown through his actions how good a friend he is of the Israeli people. I think that most of the Israeli people would find that not a good idea, so I don’t think he is going to propose it.”
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan thanked the congressmen for their visit, explaining that it strengthened them.
He felt, he said, that they stood with Israel as it faced terror attacks and delegitimization campaigns, particularly from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Dagan’s spokeswoman Ester Allouch was also present.
In Gush Etzion, they visited the conservation park of Oz Ve’Gaon and met with Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar of Women in Green. The two women spoke with the congressmen about the importance of applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.
Barr assured here, “we will share this [Sovereignty] message with our colleagues in Congress and our constituents in the United States as we echo your sentiment that a strong Israel and Israeli Sovereignty is an interest not just of the Jewish People but of the United States as well.”
Their visits were organized by the YesIsrael Project headed by Ruthie Lieberman and Sarah Paley.