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The proposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank, or parts thereof, has been considered by
Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...
politicians since the area was captured and
occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
by Israel during the 1967
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
.
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...
was the first part of the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
to be annexed; it was ''de facto'' annexed following its occupation by Israel in 1967, and ''de jure annexed'' following the 1980
Jerusalem Law The Jerusalem Law (, ar, قانون القدس) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on 30 July 1980 (17th Av, 5740). Although the law did not use the term, the Israeli Supreme Court interpreted the ...
.
Annexation of the Jordan Valley Annexation of the Jordan Valley is the proposed application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley. The idea has been advocated by some Israeli politicians since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, most notably with t ...
, first proposed in the 1967
Allon Plan The Allon Plan ( he, תוכנית אלון) was a plan to partition the West Bank between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, create a Druze state in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and return most of the Sinai Peninsula to Arab con ...
, was announced by Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
in September 2019 as his plan, subject to the outcome of the
September 2019 Israeli legislative election Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a ...
. Israeli law has been applied to Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank, leading to a system of "enclave law" and claims of "creeping annexation". Annexation of the West Bank would be condemned as illegal by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
and would break international law.


Proposals


Annexation of Israeli settlements

Israel's prime minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, and his center-right
Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel S ...
party do not have a coherent stance on the status of the West Bank. In 2009, Netanyahu endorsed the two-state solution, but before the
April 2019 Israeli legislative election April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. It is the first of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the second of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. April is commonly associated with ...
, he stated his intention of unilaterally annexing Israeli settlements in the West Bank. However, since this was a throwaway remark made without addressing the international opposition to such an action, it is unclear whether Netanyahu intends to follow through. On 16 September 2019, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Netanyahu said "I intend to extend sovereignty on all the settlements and the (settlement) blocs," including "sites that have security importance or are important to Israel’s heritage," including the settlements in Hebron. The application of
Israeli law in the West Bank settlements Israeli law is enforced in Israeli settlements and among Israeli civilians in Area C of the West Bank, a Palestinian territory under military occupation and therefore otherwise subject to military law. Some provisions are applied on a person ...
has been described by commentators as "creeping annexation".''
Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.
''
Plan to apply Israeli law in West Bank: Equal rights or ‘creeping annexation’?
/ref>


Annexation of the Jordan Valley

On 10 September 2019 (shortly before the
September 2019 Israeli legislative election Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a ...
) Netanyahu announced his government's plan to annex the
Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...
, if it won the election. He also reaffirmed his previous pledge to annex all Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank, but said such a move would not be made before publication of the
Trump peace plan The Trump peace plan, officially titled "Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People", was a proposal by the Trump administration to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. President Donald Trump ...
and consultations with President Donald Trump. According to B'Tselem, 65,000 Palestinians and about 11,000 Israeli settlers live in the area. According to Peace Now, the proposal includes 30 settlements with 12,778 settlers, 18 illegal outposts, 15 Area A and B communities, including 44,175 Palestinians planned to remain under the nominal autonomous rule of the Palestinian Authority, surrounded by annexed territory with access roads, described by Peace Now as "..alarmingly similar to the
Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...
formula in former
Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa" and 48 shepherding communities in Area C including 8,775 Palestinians. The area to be annexed is about 22% of the West Bank, 90% of which is in Area C and 20% of the land is Palestinian-owned; the map that Netanyahu displayed of the area to be annexed had several errors, incorrectly noting the location of several settlements and omitting Palestinian villages. Netanyahu's map is only a slightly revised version of the
Allon Plan The Allon Plan ( he, תוכנית אלון) was a plan to partition the West Bank between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, create a Druze state in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and return most of the Sinai Peninsula to Arab con ...
map, with the key difference being that the Palestinians are no longer offered access to the international border with Jordan. Netanyahu said that he had received a green light from the United States' Donald Trump administration. The administration said that there had been no change in United States policy. The next day, there was international condemnation of the proposal from Palestinians, the
Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, the UK and the UN, the latter stating "..that any Israeli move to impose its administration over the Palestinian territory would be illegal under international law." Several Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum and Hebrew media outlets described this announcement as a political stunt for votes, with the former chief of staff and opposition Blue and White MK
Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...
saying that Netanyahu had been prepared to evacuate Jordan Valley settlements in 2014.


Annexation of Area C

The West Bank is divided into Area A, Area B, and Area C. Area C contains 60% of the West Bank's area and all Israeli settlements. According to OCHA there are about 300,000 Palestinians in Area C (B'tselem estimates between 180 and 300,000) compared to some 2.8 million in Areas A and B. The
Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...
party's official position is in support of annexing Area C alone, although some of its MKs support annexation of the entire West Bank. Leading up to the April 2019 elections, the
New Right New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...
party, led by Naftali Bennett, Israeli foreign minister and
Ayelet Shaked Ayelet Shaked (; he, אַיֶּילֶת שָׁקֵד; born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli politician, activist, and software engineer currently serving as Minister of Interior. She served as a member of the Knesset for The Jewish Home from 2013 to ...
, justice minister, advocated for the unilateral annexation of Area C. Bennett estimates that his plan would involve offering Israeli citizenship to some 80,000 Palestinians living in Area C, which contradicts the UN estimate of 297,000 Palestinians in Area C.


Annexation of the entire West Bank

Caroline Glick Caroline Glick ( he, קרולין גליק; born 1969) is an American-born Israeli conservative columnist, journalist, and author. She writes for ''Israel Hayom, Breitbart News'', '' The Jerusalem Post'', and ''Maariv''. She is adjunct senior fel ...
, a
New Right New Right is a term for various right-wing political groups or policies in different countries during different periods. One prominent usage was to describe the emergence of certain Eastern European parties after the collapse of the Soviet Uni ...
MK candidate in the April 2019 elections, supports annexation of the entire West Bank. Glick supports an application process for Israeli citizenship to Palestinians living in annexed areas, and anticipates that not all Palestinians would desire Israeli citizenship or be eligible.


Annex according to Trump peace plan

Axios cite a "senior U.S. official" as saying that any Israeli annexations must come "in the context of an offer to the Palestinians to achieve statehood based upon specific terms, conditions, territorial dimensions and generous economic support." and that "We are prepared to recognize Israeli actions to extend Israeli sovereignty over areas of the West Bank in the context of the Government of Israel agreeing to negotiate with the Palestinians along the lines set forth in President Trump’s vision." U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told Netanyahu's aides at a meeting of the U.S.-Israeli mapping committee that is examining potential areas that could be annexed, that "the U.S. wants to implement a peace plan, not an annexation plan". On 28 May 2020, Netanyahu said he was committed to annexing parts of the West Bank in July once a joint Israeli-U.S. team completes mapping the exact territory based on the conceptual map released by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. However, the July 2020 annexation plan was later pushed back.


Opinion polling

A 2019 ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...
'' poll investigated support for annexation among Israelis. According to the survey, 30% did not know, 28% of Israelis opposed any annexation and 15% supported annexing Area C alone. 27% wanted to annex the entire West Bank including 16% who opposed granting political rights to Palestinians and 11% who favored granting political rights.


Opponents

In 2014,
Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses pri ...
leader
Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( he, יָאִיר לַפִּיד, transliterated: , ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician and former journalist who has been serving as the 14th prime minister of Israel since 1 July 2022. He previously served as the alt ...
said that his centrist party would leave the governing coalition and topple the government if any West Bank settlements were annexed.
Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
, leader of the centrist
Hatnuah Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in ...
party, also said that Hatnuah would leave the coalition in the event of annexation. However, both parties support annexation of the settlement blocs after a permanent resolution of the conflict has been negotiated.
Yisrael Beytenu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...
supports redrawing the borders in order to keep as many Jews as possible within the Jewish state while transferring some Israeli Arab towns to the Palestinian state, with some Jewish settlements in the West Bank to be annexed to Israel. The left-wing opposition parties, Labor Party and
Meretz Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Kness ...
, also oppose annexation, as do the Arab parties, which insist on Israeli withdrawal to behind the Green Line. Commanders for Israel's Security, an association of retired Israeli military officers, opposes West Bank annexation. Anshel Pfeffer, Netanyahu's unofficial biographer stated that the Prime Minister had no intention of going through with the plan, which, he argued, was an electoral move to secure more votes. Long-time Israeli critic of the Israel-South Africa apartheid analogy,
Benjamin Pogrund Benjamin Pogrund (born 1933) is a South African-born Israeli author. Biography Benjamin Pogrund was brought up in Cape Town. He began a career as a journalist in 1958, writing for ''The Rand Daily Mail'' in Johannesburg, where he eventually bec ...
, who was born in South Africa, commented that were the proposal enactment, it would be tantamount to implementing an apartheid regime, and stated that his former assessment would therefore change: ' tleast it has been a military occupation. Now we are going to put other people under our control and not give them citizenship. That is apartheid. That is an exact mirror of what apartheid was n South Africa'


International response

In June 2019, the Donald Trump administration indicated that it might not object to the Israeli government's possible annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Five senators from the opposition Democratic Party introduced a resolution condemning the idea. The Trump administration had earlier recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2018 and recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel in March 2019. In November, it declared that it did not consider the settlements illegal, but asked Israel to refrain from annexation before the release of the Trump peace plan. The West Bank is internationally recognized as militarily occupied by Israel, though Israel disputes this and has created nearly 200
Israeli settlements Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
there. According to Yuval Shany, an Israeli annexation would likely be opposed internationally because the plan would violate multiple principles. Firstly, the principle of
territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that gives the right to sovereign states to defend their borders and all territory in them of another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized ...
, that territories should not be acquired by war, as stated in the preamble to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, in several U.N. resolutions proclaiming the status of the West Bank as
occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
Palestinian territory and in the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
's advisory opinion on the Wall. Secondly, it would violate the vision of a
two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...
set forth in the
Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;
. Thirdly, the permanent and day-to-day control of a civilian population by a foreign power, denying it the right to naturalize or participate in politics, would perpetuate a
democratic deficit A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) occurs when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation where representative and l ...
.


2020

In 2020, on the eve of plans to go forward with a form of annexation, leading figures in the British Jewish establishment, but not the
Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...
, signed a letter stating that any such annexation would be an ' existential threat' both to Israel and Zionists in Great Britain, and have grave consequences for the Palestinians. Among the signatories were Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott, historians Sir Simon Schama and
Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar' (2003), Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and ...
; former Conservative foreign secretary
Sir Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from ...
; lawyer
Anthony Julius Anthony Robert Julius (born 16 July 1956) is a British solicitor advocate known for being Diana, Princess of Wales' divorce lawyer and for representing Deborah Lipstadt. He is a partner at the law firm Mishcon de Reya. He holds the chair in Law ...
; philanthropist Dame Vivien Duffield; scientist Lord Robert Winston; former MP Luciana Berger; ''
Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...
'' columnist
Daniel Finkelstein Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist and politician. He is a former executive editor of ''The Times'' and remains a weekly political columnist. He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange ...
, and novelist
Howard Jacobson Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' as ...
. On June 29, 2020, it was revealed that Netanyahu's coalition partner
Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...
would not accept the proposed July 1, 2020 deadline to start annexing the West Bank. Gantz also announced that he would prefer that the Israeli government deal with the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
first. Despite not serving as prime minister, it was reported that Gantz's objection cast doubt on when a new deadline could be set. The same day, U.S. sources confirmed that West Bank annexation would not start by the planned July 1 deadline as well. In midyear a jurist of international law
William Schabas William Anthony Schabas, OC (born 19 November 1950) is a Canadian academic specialising in international criminal and human rights law. He is professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of internation ...
filed a request with the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...
asking that it investigate the architects of the plan, naming Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mike Pompeo and Jared Kushner.Brett Wilkins
'Palestinians file ICC complaint against Trump, Kushner and Netanyahu over annexation,'
Mondoweiss ''Mondoweiss'' is a news website that began as a general-interest blog written by Philip Weiss on ''The New York Observer'' website. It subsequently developed into a broader collaborative venture after fellow journalist Adam Horowitz joined it ...
3 July 2020


See also

* Status of territories occupied by Israel in 1967


References


Further reading

* * {{Israeli–Palestinian conflict West Bank Annexation Politics of Israel One-state solution