Netanyahu: West Bank annexation ‘not off the table’; issue ‘is in Washington’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told his Likud faction meeting that Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land is not off the table, but is being held up by the US administration. “The issue of applying sovereignty is in Washington. It’s not off the table, the option still exists,” he said. Netanyahu had declared […]
Netanyahu to Iran: IDF ‘Prepared to Respond to Any Threat’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed a harsh warning on Sunday to Iran and its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah. Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: “Lebanon and Syria bear the responsibility for any attack against Israel emanating from their territories. We will not allow our security to be undermined; neither will we allow our citizens […]
Could War With Iran Be an October Surprise?
Over the past few weeks, a series of suspicious fires and explosions have occurred at Iranian civilian and military facilities, including the country’s main missile-production and nuclear complexes. While a few of these incidents might have been accidental, the timing and specific targets suggest that at least some were the result of sabotage by Israel, and the […]
French President Macron urges Netanyahu not to proceed with annexation
Annexation of portions of the West Bank would “contravene international law,” French President Emmanuel Macron warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It would also “jeopardize the possibility of a two-state solution” and a “fair and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. The two men spoke on Thursday, but a summary of their comments was […]
Annexation Will Probably Go Smoothly. The Problems Will Come Later.
The timing and scope of the plan is still uncertain, but when Israel announces its expected decision to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, the world’s attention will turn to the immediate impact. People who care about the region will be watching closely to see if Palestinians rise up in protest, if the Palestinian Authority […]
Netanyahu: Sovereignty may start small if Gantz insists
Israel may apply its law to only some of the settlements this summer because the US will only support it if Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantzis on board, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of former IDF senior commanders on Monday. There is a strong possibility that Gantz will only agree for sovereignty to be […]
PA threatens to cancel recognition of Israel
Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh warned on Monday that if Israel fulfills its intention to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the PLO may cancel its recognition of Israel. In an interview with the Palestine television network, Shtayyeh said that the PLO had a number of diplomatic cards to use against Israel, including the recognition […]
‘Netanyahu promised clusters, not isolated communities’
Karnei Shomron Mayor Yigal Lahav met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday and received from him a promise that sovereignty would be applied to all Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. “He said that on July 1 he would submit to the Knesset plenum a proposal to apply sovereignty to all localities […]
In show of support for PM, settler leaders give sovereignty bid green light
As Israel moves closer to applying sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Blue and White leader Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday evening to discuss the Trump administration’s outline for peace. The two former IDF chiefs of staff presented […]
Gantz in separate dialogue with Washington on annexation
PM Binyamin Netanyahu is talking through endless disputes and international flak in an all-out effort to clear the way for partial West Bank annexation by his July 1 deadline. On Sunday night, June 7, he admitted he does not have a green light from Washington. When the unity government was formed last month by Likud […]