The Likud Central Committee voted Sunday to unanimously accept a resolution that calls on the party’s leaders to move to formally annex the West Bank.

The vote by the ruling party is nonbinding and was called for in a letter signed by some 900 members of the central committee.

Most of the Likud ministers in the government support the resolution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present at the event, but over 1,000 people attended, including former education minister and Netanyahu rival Gideon Sa’ar, who called on Likud to support the move.

“It is going to happen in a few years. Let us lead Likud. All big historical moves were led by Likud and it is our generation’s goal to remove any question mark looming over the future of the settlements,” Sa’ar said.

In the past, Netanyahu would have prevented such meetings being called to discuss ideological issues, saying it had a diplomatic cost overseas while having little significance in the Zionist entity. This time, though, he chose not to intervene.

Source: Israeli media