From a Reuters article yesterday by Jeffrey Heller:
Sharon, who in the late 1970s emerged as the architect of a plan to vastly expand the settlements, heads a right-wing party that views the West Bank as part of the Biblical territories of Judea and Samaria, given by God to the Jews.
Actually, Likud is a secular party that recognizes an ‘unassailable Jewish right’ to the West Bank, but not due to divine mandate.
The official Likud platform describes the party’s position this way:
The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values. Settlement of the land is a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel. The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting.
Even the full, Hebrew version of the Likud party platform lacks any mention of the land ‘given by God to the Jews.’
As stated in the platform, Likud tends to value West Bank settlements for their strategic, defense-based value, rather than any spiritual value.
Reuters should issue an immediate correction.
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