Netanyahu Vows To Annex West Bank With US Help

NBC News reports:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he may annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the occupied West Bank “in coordination” with the United States — a move that risks shattering the fragile status quo in the volatile region.

“This is a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty to communities in Judea and Samaria,” he told reporters in Jerusalem Tuesday, referring to the West Bank.

“I request a mandate to apply Jewish sovereignty to all communities and I intend to do so in coordination with the United States,” he said, adding that the U.S. would present its long-awaited Israel-Palestinian peace plan a few days after the election.

The BBC reports:

Such a move would be popular with right-wing parties which he would have to depend upon to form a coalition but fiercely opposed by Palestinians. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 but stopped short of annexation.

Palestinians claim the whole of the West Bank for a future independent state. Mr Netanyahu has previously insisted that Israel would always retain a presence in the Jordan Valley for security purposes.

Israel occupied the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights, in the 1967 Middle East war. It effectively annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, and the Golan Heights in 1981, although neither move was accepted internationally for decades

Breaking News: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pledged to annex parts of the occupied West Bank if he wins re-election, citing U.S. support. https://t.co/M7YeEVuJDG

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 10, 2019

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