Israeli Defense Chief Says Annexation ‘Will Wait’ Amid Virus
Israel Tells U.S. July 1 Annexation Date Not Set in Stone
(Bloomberg) --
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said plans to annex West Bank territory must be put to the side while the country tackles the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Anything unrelated to the battle against coronavirus will wait,” Gantz, who also serves as alternate prime minister, told his Blue and White party at a parliamentary faction meeting Monday. Under the government’s coalition agreement, July 1 is the nearest date that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may go forward with his promised annexation.
Earlier in the day, former military chief Gantz also told U.S. officials that a July 1 start date for annexing West Bank lands isn’t set in stone, according to a person in his party. Returning Israelis to work and combating the pandemic must take top priority, Gantz said in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and White House special negotiator Avi Berkowitz, the person said.
Netanyahu fired back at Gantz’s comments, telling lawmakers in his Likud party that annexation “doesn’t depend” on Gantz, Hebrew-language media reported.
The U.S. wants Gantz and Netanyahu to reach an agreement on how to proceed with annexation, according to local reports, despite a clause in the coalition agreement that allows the prime minister to move forward from July 1, with U.S. consent.
Netanyahu has revealed few details about how he intends to fulfill his campaign pledge to extend Israel’s sovereignty over lands it captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. While Israel can claim up to 30% of the West Bank within the framework of the White House’s Middle East peace proposal, Palestinians have condemned annexation as ending their hopes for a future state and the plan has been widely denounced internationally.
The White House convened discussions on the issue last week without disclosing its stance. Gantz told the Americans he views President Donald Trump’s peace plan as a “historic move” that must be advanced in cooperation with Israel’s strategic partners and the Palestinians, according to the person in his party.
Gantz agreed to team up with Netanyahu in government after long rejecting such an alliance because he said the country needed unity to address the coronavirus. After loosening a tight economic shutdown that brought the outbreak under control, Israel is seeing a surge in cases as it continues to grapple with economic fallout that sent unemployment rocketing from below 4% to nearly 28%.
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