On a clear day, the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv are visible from the hill above Karnei Shomron, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
“I do feel different from Tel Aviv,” said Sondra Baras, who has lived in Karnei Shomron for almost 40 years. “I’m living in a place where my ancestors lived thousands of years ago. I do not live in occupied territory; I live in Biblical Judea and Samaria.”
For many settlers here, the line between the State of Israel, and the territory it captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, has been erased from their narrative.
The visitors’ audio-guide at the hill-top viewpoint describes the West Bank as “a region of Israel” and the Palestinian city of Nablus as the place where God promised the land to the Jews.
But formal annexation of this territory has so far remained a dream for settlers like Sondra, even while settlements – viewed as illegal by the UN’s top court and most other countries – have mushroomed year after year.
Now many see an opportunity to go further, with the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.
“I was thrilled that Trump won,” Sondra told me. “I very much want to extend sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. And I feel that’s something Trump could support.”
There are signs that some in his incoming administration might agree with her.
Mike Huckabee, nominated as Trump’s new ambassador to Israel, signalled his support for Israeli claims on the West Bank in an interview last year
