Netanyahu Under Pressure From Settler Leaders, Israeli Ministers To Push West Bank Annexation in Trump Meeting

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from Israeli settler leaders and ministers to push for West Bank annexation in his meeting with President Trump on Monday. Israel’s finance minister and a security cabinet member, Betzalel Smotrich, said he expects the Israeli prime minister to “establish politically and practically the fact that Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the sovereign state of Israel, and to put on the table an alternative plan for managing the lives of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria themselves.”Settler leaders meanwhile voiced concern that the Israeli government could sign off on the establishment of a Palestinian state after meeting with Mr. Netanyahu at New York. Mr. Netanyahu met late Sunday with settler leaders Yossi Dagan, who heads the Samaria Regional Council, and Yisrael Gantz, head of the Yesha Council, to discuss the issue of West Bank annexation. Mr. Dagan told Israeli news site Ynet that “Netanyahu was attentive and the meeting was in-depth, but we left concerned despite the open dialogue. At the end of the meeting, the prime minister did not say when sovereignty would occur.”“This government could sign off on the establishment of a Palestinian state, that’s the next October 7,” Mr. Dagan added. Mr. Dagan referred to President Trump’s 21-point peace plan that states that when Gaza’s redevelopment has been advanced and the Palestinian Authority reform program has been implemented, “the conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood, which is recognized as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”Mr. Smotrich also raised the issue of a Palestinian state, calling it a “red line” that shouldn’t be crossed if Mr. Netanyahu wants his support for the Trump peace plan. “The idea of a Palestinian state needs to be completely removed from the table,” he said. The finance minister also demanded that there be no role in post-war Gaza for the Palestinian Authority or Qatar, and that ending the war can only happen “with the full and genuine dismantling and demilitarization of Hamas and the Gaza Strip.”Mr. Netanyahu reportedly told the settler leaders that he would “raise the issue” of applying sovereignty in the West Bank with Mr. Trump, but emphasized that “we have to navigate a complex reality.” “The prime minister can apply sovereignty, that is what we expect from him. He is a historic leader and knows there are moments in the life of a nation when the leader must do what he can to save the nation,” Mr. Dagan said. “The one who will decide whether there will be sovereignty is Netanyahu, not the U.S. Trump is a great lover of Israel, he is a miracle for Israel, but even among friends there can be disagreements,” he added. The issue of annexation sparked reactions from both Mr. Trump and Arab leaders after Israeli media reported that the government considered applying sovereignty in parts of the West Bank in response to Western nations recognizing a Palestinian state. Mr. Trump said that he “will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, said that Arab and Muslim countries “made very clear to the president the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank, and the risk that poses, not just for the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all.”“And I feel confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries, and I think the president in the U.S. understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank,” the prince added.

Netanyahu Under Pressure From Settler Leaders, Israeli Ministers To Push West Bank Annexation in Trump Meeting

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