Would Annexing Part Of The West Bank Spark A ‘Crisis’ Between Israel And Trump?
Image by getty images
By Naomi Zeveloff March 6, 2017
Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be a “crisis” in the United States’ view at an Israeli parliament committee meeting, the Times of Israel reported.
Lieberman said that he received a firm message from the Trump administration warning Israel not to go ahead with West Bank annexation at this juncture.
“We received a message directly — not indirectly, not a hint — from the US, that Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank means an immediate crisis with the new administration,” he said.
Annexation of the West Bank, which would effectively end the prospects for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians has been a topic of debate in Israel since the election. Trump has signaled that he will be more lenient on Jewish settlement construction in the territory Palestinians claim for a state.
On Sunday, Miki Zohar, a parliament member from the ruling Likud party, said ion i24 News that Israel should annex the West Bank, but not give Palestinians there the right to vote for the national government.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
