Israel is weighing the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank this month in retaliation due to the expected wave of Palestinian state recognition by Western countries, two Israeli officials said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting with the Cabinet Minister on Thursday to discuss Israel’s response, officials said. The first scheduled meeting on Tuesday is the second meeting in a week, and is expected to include Foreign Minister Londermer, Foreign Minister Gideon Sarl and Finance Minister Bezarel Sumotrich.
France, Australia, Canada, Portugal, the UK and other western countries announced plans to recognize Palestinian states at the UN General Assembly this month, joining more than 140 countries that have already done so.
Citing Israel’s “expansionist ambition” and “colonization programme,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Prebott announced that his country also recognized the Palestinian state at its general assembly and that Brussels “has an obligation to prevent the risk of genocide.” He said that official recognition would pass royal orders once all Israeli hostages held in Gaza are released.
Prévot has also announced 12 sets of sanctions against Israel. This includes a ban on imports from Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held the first discussion last week on past annexation of the West Bank, but the security cabinet has yet to discuss the issue in detail and no decision has been made.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the war of 1967, and soon began establishing Jewish settlements after denying international law. Palestinians hope that the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip will be supported by most of the international community in search of future states.
Israeli officials said Netanyahu is considering annexation options of various scales and levels, ranging from limited acquisitions of several Jewish settlements to a broader approach to seeking annexation of Area C, which accounts for 60% of the territory.
A series of peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the 1990s, known as the Oslo Agreement, divided the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C, with Area C completely under Israeli administrative and security controls.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saa updated Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Israeli annexation plans during last week’s meeting, Israeli officials said. However, other Israeli sources told CNN that the plan has not yet received green light from the US.
When asked about Israel’s annexation plan, a US State Department spokesperson told CNN on Monday that the agency would not reveal details of inter-ministerial or diplomatic debates.
Two officials said one of the main options considered was the annexation of the Jordan Valley, located on the eastern edge of the Jordan River. Officials said there is a broader general consensus in Israel to support such a proposal, adding that the need for Israel to use as a security perimeter would be easier to sell to the international community and, most importantly, Washington.
However, Netanyahu’s far-right political allies, Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gwil, as well as the leadership of settlers, are opposed to the idea of partial annexation, including specific strips or reconciliation blocs, and instead pushes the biggest approach. The move will allow Israel to surround Palestinian population centres, further undermining the viability of the adjacent Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, applying sovereignty with Palestinian inhabitants to the territory allowed Israel to provide citizenship or residence to approximately 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Annexation of any portion of the occupied West Bank using Israeli sovereignty would violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and spark enormous diplomatic backlash.
Israeli settlements on the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. The United Nations strengthened its designation in 2016 with Security Council resolution 2334. This declared that Jewish settlements in the occupied territories were “significant violations” of international law and “no legal validity.”
Omer Rahamim, CEO of the Council of Yesha, an umbrella organization for Jewish settlements on the West Bank, said applying sovereignty is “a preemptive move before the Palestinian state’s perception of France.”
Rahamim said the leadership of the settlers demands a wide range of annexation moves, not just within the settlement bloc and the Jordan Valley.
Given the expected political and international pressures, Netanyahu is considering a gradual and progressive annexation plan that begins with selected territory on the broader path to sovereignty, Israeli officials said. Officials said the phased plans allow Israel to return from a full annexation in exchange for normalisation with Saudi Arabia.
When Israel was seriously considering annexing the West Bank in 2020, Netanyahu eventually deleted the plan as part of the Abraham Agreement, which normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
Saudi Arabia says normalization will not take place until Israel commits to the path to the Palestinian state.
In addition to annexation, Israel is considering other punitive measures in response to the development of the Palestinian state, including sanctions by the Palestinian authorities governing parts of the West Bank as part of a peace agreement with Israel.
On Friday, the United States announced it had decided to refuse visas to Palestinian officials arriving at this month’s UN General Assembly. At the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron announces France’s perception of the Palestinian state and plans to become a member of the first such UN Security Council.
Israeli officials said the US decision to reject a visa was coordinated with the Israeli government as part of an attempt to prevent Palestinian authorities President Mahmoud Abbas from attending.
The United States has continued its unwavering support for Israel under President Donald Trump.
Despite this, Trump says Israel is losing its “public relations world.”
“They’ll have to take over that war, but that’s hurting Israel,” he said in an interview with the Daily Caller on Friday in an oval office.
“There’s no doubt about that. They may be beating the war, but they’re not beating the public relations world.
