Netanyahu 'confident' US will allow West Bank annexation soon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he was confident the United States would give Israel the approval within two months to move ahead with de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians have expressed outrage at Israel's plans to cement its hold further on land it seized in the 1967 war, territory they are seeking for a future state. Netanyahu, in announcing a deal with his rival Benny Gantz last week to form a unity government, set July 1 for the start of cabinet discussions on extending Israeli sovereignty to Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, in the occupied West Bank and annexing outright the Jordan Valley.
Palestinians have flatly rejected Trump’s “Kushner Peace Plan” proposal, partly because it awards Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all the occupied land on which it has built settlements.
Annexation would need to be agreed with Washington, according to the Netanyahu-Gantz agreement. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday it was up to Israel whether to annex parts of the West Bank and said Washington would offer its views privately to its new government.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/netanyahu-confident-annexation-months-200426201133822.html
