In a meeting with settler leaders Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the Trump administration was toughening its stance on the new Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank, and signaled that any such effort might be delayed, according to a settler official who took part in the meeting.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times of Israel that the premier also told the West Bank mayors that the United States “may have lessened its enthusiasm about seeing sovereignty carried out.”
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, unveiled in January at a White House ceremony attended by Netanyahu, would allow Israel to apply sovereignty over settlements and the Jordan Valley. It would also designate most of the rest of the West Bank for a Palestinian state should the Palestinians meet a series of conditions.
While supporting annexation, prominent settler leaders have come out against the Trump plan for its backing of a Palestinian state. They also oppose the proposal’s transformation of 15 settlements into isolated enclaves encircled by the future Palestinian state, with their objections based on a conceptual map released by the US in January. (Read More)
Netanyahu has said repeatedly he plans to move forward with unilaterally annexing these areas beginning next month, though the US has reportedly told him to “slow the process.”
The official said settler leaders left the “intense” meeting under the impression that annexation would not be taking place “as soon or in the scope” that had initially been pledged by Netanyahu.
While supporting annexation, prominent settler leaders have come out against the Trump plan for its backing of a Palestinian state. They also oppose the proposal’s transformation of 15 settlements into isolated enclaves encircled by the future Palestinian state, with their objections based on a conceptual map released by the US in January. (Read More)