Builders in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 7, 2019. Photo: Reuters
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https://scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3004991/israels-benjamin-netanyahu-says-he-plans-annex-settlements Middle East
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he plans to annex settlements in West Bank if re-elected
- The prime minister, who has been dogged by corruption accusations, said he would ‘extend Israeli sovereignty’ in land captured from Palestinians
- Palestinians say Netanyahu will have a ‘real problem’ trying to claim the land as part of Israel
The Palestinian foreign minister said on Sunday Israel’s leader will face a “real problem” if he follows through with an election campaign promise to annex Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jordan, Riad Malki said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge was probably just an attempt to rally his nationalist base in the final stretch of a tight race.
But he said Palestinians would resist such a policy if carried out.
Netanyahu has promoted Jewish settlement expansion in his four terms as prime minister, but until now refrained from presenting a detailed vision for the West Bank, viewed by Palestinians as the heartland of a future state.
It would mark a dramatic shift for Netanyahu, coming just days before Tuesday’s election.
Netanyahu pledged on Saturday to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins.
“I will apply [Israeli] sovereignty, but I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements,” he said in an interview with Channel 12 television.
Settlements built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War are deemed illegal by the international community and their ongoing construction is seen as a major barrier to peace.
Annexation could prove to be the death knell for the two-state solution.
An election poster for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a railway station in Jerusalem. Photo: EPA
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Netanyahu’s statement on annexation was “not surprising”.
“Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity, particularly with the Trump administration’s support,” he said on Twitter.
Turkey on Sunday said Netanyahu’s pledge was “irresponsible”.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the West Bank was Palestinian territory and Israel’s occupation violated international law.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s irresponsible statement to seek votes just before the Israeli general elections cannot and will not change this fact,” Cavusoglu tweeted.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman extended the condemnation to include Israel’s allies in the West.
“Will Western democracies react or will they keep appeasing? Shame on them all!” Ibrahim Kalin tweeted.
In an interview broadcast on Friday, Netanyahu said he told US President Donald Trump he would not remove settlements or people as part of a future American peace plan.
A Palestinian man carries stones during clashes with Israeli forces. Photo: AFP
“I said there shouldn’t be the removal of even one settlement” from the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 13 television.
More than 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements as part of Israel’s military occupation of the territory, where more than 2.5 million Palestinians live.
A further 200,000 Israelis live in settlements in occupied east Jerusalem, over which Israel has already implemented full sovereignty.
Watch: When Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
Washington is expected to unveil proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace sometime after Tuesday’s Israeli election in which Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term.
The Israeli prime minister was asked by Channel 13 if he was familiar with the details of the US plan, replying he knew “what should be in it”.
Along with settlements, “our ongoing control of all the territory west of the Jordan” River was a further condition set by the Israeli premier for any US-led peace initiative.
Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival against former top general Benny Gantz (pictured), a political novice campaigning on a centrist platform. Photo: EPA
Netanyahu said he informed Trump not “even one person” would be evicted from a settlement.
The US State Department declined to comment on Netanyahu’s statement.
The latest polls place Netanyahu and ex-military chief Gantz neck and neck, but give the former the advantage in his ability to form a coalition government.
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters