Jerusalem:Â Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to annex the heart of the West Bank if he wins re-election next week, a move that could inflame the Middle East and extinguish any remaining Palestinian hope of establishing a separate state.
Arab leaders angrily condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, and a UN spokesman warned the step would be “devastating” to the prospects for a two-state solution.
Netanyahu said he would extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley – an area seen as the breadbasket of any Palestinian state – shortly after forming a new government and would move later to annex other Jewish settlements.
Such action would swallow up most of the West Bank territory sought by the Palestinians, leaving them with little more than isolated enclaves.
Netanyahu said it was important to act as US President Donald Trump prepares to unveil his Middle East peace plan after the September 17 election.
“This is a historic opportunity, a one-time opportunity, to extend Israeli sovereignty on our settlements in Judea and Samaria, and also on other important regions for our security, for our heritage, and for our future,” Netanyahu said, using the biblical terms for the West Bank.
The Prime Minister was not clear about the status of the Palestinians on the West Bank.
Over 2.5 million Palestinians live there and in east Jerusalem, in addition to nearly 700,000 Jewish settlers. Israel already has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that is not internationally recognised.
Read the article by Joseph Federman in The Sydney Morning Herald and The New Daily.