- Binyamin Netanyahu ready to annex parts of West Bank by the summer Archived Message
- Binyamin Netanyahu ready to annex parts of West Bank by the summer - Mary April 28, 2020, 10:40 am
- Re: Israel is exceedingly good at taking advantage of a situation - Jackie April 28, 2020, 3:37 pm
Posted by Mary
on April 28, 2020, 10:40 am
|
Binyamin Netanyahu ready to annex parts of West Bank by the summer Anshel Pfeffer, Jerusalem April 28 2020 The new Israeli government plans to authorise the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank in July after Binyamin Netanyahu said he was confident of President Trump’s support. “President Trump pledged to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish communities [in the West Bank],” the Israeli prime minister said in an online message to a group of American evangelical Christians. “A couple of months from now, I am confident that that pledge will be honoured.” Mr Netanyahu was referring to the “deal of the century” plan unveiled by Mr Trump in January. Under its terms, Israel will be allowed to annex parts of the West Bank and the rest of the territory, along with Gaza, will become an independent Palestinian state. About four million people live on the West Bank and more than three quarters of them are Palestinian. Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and has extended its control by expanding Jewish settlements there. The annexation of West Bank territory would draw international condemnation and extinguish any lingering hopes of establishing a viable independent Palestinian state. The Palestinians have rejected the plan outright and several European nations have warned Israel about the implications of going ahead with unilateral annexation. Dominic Raab, the British foreign secretary, said in January: “Any such unilateral moves would be damaging to renewed efforts to restart peace negotiations, and contrary to international law.” Mr Netanyahu wanted to start annexing parts of the West Bank before the Israeli election on March 2. However, the Trump administration urged him to wait until a joint Israeli-American committee had completed a map of proposed areas for annexation. According to the coalition agreement signed last week by Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party and the main opposition, Blue and White, the new government will start discussing the plan in July. Mr Netanyahu says he has the backing of President Trump Photo Benny Gantz, the leader of Blue and White, is opposed to unilateral annexation but Mr Netanyahu is likely to have a majority both within cabinet and in parliament. He has already overruled the objections of Israel’s military and security chiefs, who warned that annexing parts of the West Bank would probably cause widespread violence. The final decision is likely to come down to the Trump administration, which has so far been wary of giving the green light. However, since annexation of the biblical heartland of the West Bank, which Israeli right-wingers and their American supporters call Judea and Samaria, would be popular with Mr Trump’s evangelical voters, he may give Mr Netanyahu the go-ahead before the US presidential election in November. Annexing parts of the West Bank already under Israeli control might make little difference on the ground, but has always been seen as an international “red line” (Richard Spencer writes). It would make an integral Palestinian state impossible and would be a clear slap in the face for Arab countries that have made peace with Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu is supported by President Trump — but his friend in the White House is by no means assured of re-election this year, which would leave him without his key ally in the event of a Palestinian backlash. On the other hand, a Biden administration is probably not one that Mr Netanyahu fears, and the Palestinians and their Arab backers are as weak now as they have been at any time in the past century. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/binyamin-netanyahu-ready-to-annex-parts-of-west-bank-by-the-summer-rpqmcqmpz |
| Message Thread:
|