Israel Annexation Plan Snags Over War Crimes Probe, Yediot Says

(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank have stumbled over a war crimes probe, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported.

A first inter-ministerial meeting of Israeli officials to discuss the planned annexation was canceled in anticipation the International Criminal Court would recommend investigating suspected Israeli war crimes against the Palestinians, the newspaper said on Tuesday.

It cited unidentified people involved in the matter as saying work on annexing the Jordan Valley might be frozen following ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s decision last week that “there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation into the situation in Palestine.” In her statement she alluded to Israel’s plans to annex portions of the West Bank, which Palestinians claim for part of their hoped-for state.

Ahead of two elections this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’d extend Israeli sovereignty over West Bank territory if re-elected. The initial target was to be the Jordan Valley, where thousands of settlers live and Israeli forces guard the country’s eastern flank with Jordan.

The meeting of Israeli officials was to have taken place before Bensouda released her decision, the newspaper said. Israel has rejected her conclusion, while the Palestinians have welcomed it.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Teibel in Jerusalem at ateibel@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Amy Teibel

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.