On August 11, 2020 it was reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the United States for his failure to apply sovereignty to 'West Bank' settlements. On Channel 20. the Prime Minister said: “It was clear from the start that the application of sovereignty would be done only with agreement from the United States. Otherwise, I would have already done it a while ago.”
On July 14,2020 Arutz 7 reported "Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s plan to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria has been frozen for the time being, a senior Israeli official said Tuesday morning. Yariv Levin (Likud), the Knesset Speaker and chief of the Israeli delegation negotiating with the White House on the implementation of the sovereignty plan, said in closed talks that talks with the US on the plan were not progressing at this time..."
The reason not to apply sovereignty is that talks with the US on the plan are "not progressing", but the next one will be the proximity of US elections. According to reports, sovereignty will not be implemented close to US elections. On April 6 , 2020 Arutz 7 reported "The Yamina party responded Monday evening to leaked reports of the unity agreement between the Likud and Blue and White parties...Netanyahu received a vague wording about sovereignty that says nothing, and, worse, rejects sovereignty close to the US election in a way that casts a heavy shadow on the possibility of obtaining American consent to the move..."
So the proximity of US elections will be another reason to postpone the application of sovereignty. Naftali Bennett has been trying to apply Israeli sovereignty over Ma'aleh Adumim since January 2017 but Netanyahu has repeatedly found reasons to postpone the vote.
On June 11,2020 Arutz 7 reported "...Bennett said he does not believe that the government will go through with applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. "When I see Netanyahu talk about it so much, I'm convinced he won't do it..."
On February 29, 2020 the Jerusalem Post reported "Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman alleged on Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told King Abdullah of Jordan that he would not annex the Jordan Valley and that it was all for the elections."
"I found out a few days ago that, during all the talk about annexing the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu sent a message to the King of Jordan saying, 'don't worry, it's just election talk, there won't be annexation,' Liberman said," adding that Netanyahu had security forces deliver the message.
Netanyahu chose to partner with Blue and White and appoint Ashkenazi. Why did Netanyahu choose a foreign minister who says he wants to have a "foot on the brake" on sovereignty? On April 26, 2020 Arutz7 reported "MK Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) on Saturday night gave an interview to Channel 12 News, his first since the signing of the coalition agreement with the Likud...Ashkenazi was asked about the issue of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria which Netanyahu promised his voters and replied, “We believe that it’s better to have an influence from within [the government]. You know, [though] maybe the public doesn’t know, that if Netanyahu brings [sovereignty] to a vote in the Knesset tomorrow, he will have a majority of 70 votes. We think that every person should ask himself who he wants behind the steering wheel when that happens. We prefer to have a hand on the wheel and a foot on the brake." (Read More)
