Jerusalem’s mass recognition of new Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria “is not the end—it’s the beginning,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised local leaders on Tuesday evening.

“I promised 25 years ago that we would deepen our roots, and we did, together,” said Netanyahu, who was speaking at an event organized by the Binyamin Regional Council in Samaria’s south.

“I said that we would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and we are doing it, together. I said that we would build and hold on to parts of our country, our homeland, and we are doing it,” he continued.

“All the people here can testify that their lives have become much simpler, much more organized, and that, in many communities, you’re no longer treated as stepchildren [second-class],” he said.

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