Just over two weeks before a possible Israeli annexation of some as-yet unspecified portion of the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces is preparing for a wide range of scenarios for potential regional fallout — up to and including a large-scale wave of terror attacks — while still not being told exactly what the government has in mind.
Given Palestinian rejection of the Trump peace plan, the US may support Israel in the unilateral annexation of a few settlement blocs in the West Bank, World Israel News (WIN) reported Thursday. Under the Israeli coalition government agreement, Prime Minister Netanyahu can ask the Knesset to vote on annexation proposals starting July 1. However, the agreement stipulates that any such proposal must have US backing.
On Wednesday, Israel’s High Court of Justice struck down a law passed in 2017 to retroactively legalize settler houses built illegally on Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank, CBN News reports. The law was frozen from the time it passed in order for petitions against it to be heard.
The Palestinian prime minister says his government will declare a new Palestinian state, perhaps as early as next month, if Israel goes ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
As Israel sees a spike in COVID-19 cases following the easing of lockdown restrictions, government leaders began to debate a controversial new bill Tuesday that would give the executive branch wide-ranging emergency powers to manage the virus outbreak, CBN News reported. The bill must first be approved by a special COVID-19 government committee before going on to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and to the Knesset for approval.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told settler leaders on Sunday that he still intends to annex all West Bank settlements on the July 1 date that is the earliest allowed by his coalition deals, but he acknowledged that annexing other lands allocated to Israel under the Trump peace plan will likely take more time, several participants in the meeting told The Times of Israel.
A former national security adviser to Israeli PM Netanyahu, says Iran’s failed cyber- attack on Israel’s water supply in April represents a new phase of Iranian aggression, World Israel News (WIN) reported. The Iranian attack sought to cause computers to add too much chlorine to Israel’s water supply. An official source told the Financial Times that the attack was almost successful.
It is highly unlikely the US will approve Israeli advancement of plans to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank on July 1, a well-placed source told the Times of Israel (TOI) Wednesday. A central condition of US approval is that a joint US-Israel mapping committee must conclude its work on delineating the exact borders of the territory Israel would annex. According to the TOI source, it could take the committee weeks, if not months, to complete this task.
As he prepares to ask the Knesset to vote on a plan for Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained Thursday that MKs will only have to vote on the issue of sovereignty, not on the issue of a Palestinian state, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned Israel on Wednesday of “serious consequences,” if the Jewish state continues its attempts to annex parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley. “There would be consequences for this measure on the economic and political Palestinian-Israeli relationship,” said PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat.
A number of European heads of state recently wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him not to proceed with plans for unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank, Israel’s Channel 13 reported Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron made the request of Netanyahu “in a spirit of friendship.”
A day after his trial began in the Jerusalem District Court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a message to the press at a faction meeting of his Likud party.
Benjamin Netanyahu became on Sunday Israel’s first prime minister to stand trial on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges.
Iran has defended an anti-Israel poster published by the country’s leader calling for ”the final solution,” amid accusations that he wants genocide against Jews.
In calling for the “elimination of Israel” on Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini used the words ‘final solution,’ CBN news reports. The phrase Hitler applied to describe his plans for a Jewish genocide was adopted in a poster published to Khamenei’s website on the occasion of Quds Day, Iran’s annual anti-Israel event.
Russia is reportedly seeking to arrange a meeting in the coming weeks between US and Palestinian officials to help renew ties between Washington and Ramallah, which have frayed during US President Donald Trump’s presidency.
International opposition to Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank continued to gain momentum Wednesday as representatives of the UN, Russia, and the Vatican all expressed strong objections to the plan that could be implemented as early as July.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he was terminating all agreements with Israel and the United States, including security cooperation with the Jewish state, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex parts of the West Bank.
The European Union’s head of foreign policy stated Monday that the bloc would not recognize any annexation changes Israel made to “1967 borders” unless these had been agreed by the Palestinians, the Times of Israel reports. In his statement, Josep Borrell added: “We strongly urge Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory and would be, as such, contrary to international law.”
Israel’s parliament accepted a new government on Sunday, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz. The approval ended the most extended political crisis in the Jewish state’s history.