No one talking about West Bank annexation anymore: Israeli FM
Israel’s foreign minister says no one, not even the American officials, talks about Tel Aviv’s plan to annex part of the occupied West Bank anymore.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said on Wednesday the regime’s annexation plan is not being discussed either by Tel Aviv or the American officials he speaks to on a weekly basis.
Asked if “annexation is off the agenda,” Ashkenazi replied, “No one is talking about it, justifiably… Not the Americans, either at the moment.”
He said, however, that he “can’t say for sure that it is off the agenda.”
The plan to to annex one-third of the already illegally occupied West Bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley, seems to be on hold for now amid deep divisions within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet over the land grab bid.
Ashkenazi, whose Blue and White party is opposed to Netanyahu’s plan, warned on Wednesday that “if it [the plan] comes back, without harming existing agreements and in dialogue with our neighbors… you will hear our stance again.”
US President Donald Trump has already given Tel Aviv the green light for the land grab in his self-proclaimed “deal of the century,” which was unveiled in January with the aim of re-drawing the Middle East map.
Netanyahu had frequently announced that he would definitely begin cabinet-level discussions for the annexation on July 1, in accordance with Trump’s plan.
Nevertheless, his much-publicized land grab plan, without clarifications, failed the set date amid widening differences within the Israeli ruling coalition and against the backdrop of massive international opposition to the highly provocative attempt.
The crestfallen Israeli premier, who had publicly voiced full-throated support of Trump’s plan, said earlier this month that he would continue discussions with Washington over the scheme “in the coming days.”
Experts believe there is evidence surfacing that Netanyahu's desired roadmap for annexing more Palestinian lands is at odds with the plan articulated by Trump.
Trump’s plan largely gives in to Israel’s demands while carving out a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”
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