Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the seam line a short while ago alongside the Defense Minister, the head of the National Security Council, and the commander of Central Command. IDF commanders, Shin Bet officials, and Border Guard officers briefed him on ongoing efforts to protect seam line settlements and the continuous operations underway to arrest terrorists, seize weapons, and neutralize threats from nearby villages. Standing near the former Tulkarm refugee camp, which he described as a former terror fortress that the IDF had thoroughly cleaned out under government direction, Netanyahu delivered a firm message about permanent Israeli control. He rejected any High Court suggestion that residents should return, stating clearly that those involved were not ordinary residents but terrorists. Netanyahu declared that the Israel Defense Forces alone would remain in control of the territory and that there would be no Arab army west of the Jordan River. He emphasized the area’s strategic importance, noting it lies only minutes from Netanya and the coastal plain, and insisted that Israel’s narrow waist would no longer remain vulnerable.

The prime minister stressed that Israel is securing the land from the Jordan River to the sea under full national control while expanding settlements, already numbering more than 104 communities plus numerous farms. He acknowledged existing alerts and warned that enemies appear to be testing Israel’s resolve in the period leading up to elections. Netanyahu said the IDF had presented him and the Defense Minister with a precise and powerful plan for any scenario, including what he called barrel inversion, and cautioned adversaries against trying Israel’s strength. He promised that any such test would meet a level of force they had never imagined. The visit and statements reaffirm the government’s commitment to maintain security along the seam line and across the country through sustained military presence and settlement development. Netanyahu closed by underscoring that Israel will continue safeguarding its security everywhere and that the current approach is designed to protect the state for the long term.