Eyes on Israel over West Bank land grab

Questions have surfaced over whether Israel would immediately seek to annex parts of the West Bank.

Gaza Strip refugees decry Donald Trump’s Mid-East plan. Picture: AP.

Questions have surfaced over whether Israel would immediately seek to annex parts of the West Bank, after US President Donald Trump’s peace plan called for extending Israeli sovereignty into the area.

The plan, seen as supportive of Israeli goals, has been firmly ­rejected by the Palestinians and triggered protests in Gaza and the West Bank, including isolated clashes with Israeli forces.

Mr Trump’s proposal gives the Jewish state a US green light to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank, including in the strategic Jordan Valley, but uncertainty mounted on Friday over Israel’s next moves.

After Mr Trump unveiled his long-awaited plan in Washington on Tuesday, his ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said the Jewish state “does not have to wait at all”.

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a staunch Trump ally, would seek cabinet approval on Sunday to annex settlements and territory that would become part of Israel under the US plan.

Jared Kushner — Mr Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, who spearheaded the Middle East ­initiative — said Washington did not want any moves made before Israel’s March 2 election.

Asked about the timing of any annexations in an interview with Gzero media, Mr Kushner said: “The hope is they will wait until after the election.

“We’ll start working on the technical stuff now, but I think we’d need an Israeli government in place … to move forward.”

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat called the plan “historic madness”. He said in Ramallah that President Mahmoud Abbas had written to Mr Netan­yahu threatening to cut off security co-ordination if Mr Trump’s plan goes ahead. “We’ve told the Israelis the consequences of such an idea, and they know it,” he said.

The Palestinians have made such threats multiple times before, without following through.

Mr Netanyahu heads a caretaker government after failing to form a majority in coalition talks following two elections in the past year.

His Likud party is again neck and neck in the polls with the centrist Blue and White alliance led by former military chief Benny Gantz, and it is unclear whether ­either can form a government following a new election on March 2.

The Prime Minister also faces graft charges as he battles for re-election. Mr Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on whether the annexation issue was on the agenda for a Sunday cabinet meeting.

Mr Netanyahu was, however, facing calls from the Israeli right to act. “Whatever will be delayed until after the election won’t ever happen. Everyone understands that,” Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday.

“If we delay or diminish applying sovereignty, the opportunity of the century will become the miss of the century.”

Mr Netanyahu was in Moscow on Thursday seeking to broaden international support for Israel’s ambitions. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who was travelling with him, told army radio the government wanted to move on ­annexation “as quickly as possible, in a number of days”.

Mr Netanyahu again praised Mr Trump’s initiative at the start of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader did not mention the peace plan in his public remarks, but Russian foreign spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had only “begun to study” the 180-page plan, stressing that “the decision on issues of a long-term and fair peace agreement must belong to the Palestinians and Israelis themselves”.

Israel’s army said on Wednesday it was deploying extra troops to the West Bank and around the Gaza Strip ahead of further Palestinian demonstrations against the Trump plan. An Israeli military ­official said the deployment aimed “to minimise the risk of a flare-up”.

Protests against the plan have been relatively muted.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said a total of 18 people were injured in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Hebron on Thursday during demonstrations.

In Ramallah, Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse demonstrators. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners Club, 33 protesters had been arrested in the previous 24 hours. Police said they had decided to boost their forces in and around Jerusalem ahead of Friday Muslim prayers at the volatile al-Aqsa mosque compound.

AFP