Netanyahu Plans to Annex West Bank After Election

Tel Aviv, MINA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that there was plans to annex West Bank.

Netanyahu also stressed that he had no intention of removing settlements and occupation posts in the West Bank, otherwise it would be strengthened, Safa reported.

Netanyahu said that in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2, exactly three days before Israeli election and a few days after US President Donald Trump recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

“We are discussing the extension of Israeli sovereignty over Ma’aleh Adumim and other regions and everyone knows that the new country will have bad luck,” he said.

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“Can we guarantee the security and vital area of ​​the West Bank, which is 20 times the size of Gaza. If the answer is no, we will get Gaza again in the West Bank, “Netanyahu said again.

“I will not swear to Jerusalem (referring to the united concept of Jewish Jerusalem) and revoke any settlements, and assert our control over the territory west of Jordan River,” Netanyahu said.

“When sovereignty is extended, I will not distinguish between isolated settlements and residential blocks. Every settlement post is Israel, and we have responsibility for it and will not give up the heart of the State of Israel, “he said.

In contrast to Netanyahu’s statement today, Israel distinguishes between settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, the first to consider it legitimate while others are illegal, while both are contrary to international law.

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Responding to a question about the settler protests in Gaza, recently regarding the fragility of the security situation, Netanyahu said, “People in the south, I have all love and I want to tell them that no one has died since independence (2014 aggression). ”

On the other hand, around 300 Palestinians were killed trying to approach the Gaza-Israel border fence.

Commenting on Netanyahu’s statements, Israeli affairs expert Mohammed Hamadeh said that the statements “were nothing more than empty election propaganda, he had every opportunity to implement what he promised today, but he could not.”

Hamada explained that Israeli analysts believed that his promise to annex the outposts and expand Israel’s sovereignty over them was to boost votes for Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Elit Shakid (their party, Himein Haddash). (T/Sj/R04)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)