AMMAN: Israel is expected to back down over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threat to annex swaths of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.
The new land grab is part of US President Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian “peace plan,” unveiled in January, which proposes Israeli sovereignty over a third of the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu had threatened to begin annexations on Wednesday, but no session of the Israeli Cabinet is scheduled and analysts told Arab News on Tuesday they expected no significant moves.
Wadie Abunassar, director of the International Centre for Consultation in Haifa, said there were three reasons for Netanyahu’s failure to carry out the threat.
“He has not received the green light from the Americans yet, he has received several strong messages from Arab and foreign countries, and despite all the attention Netanyahu has no political need to take such a step now.”
Palestinian leaders, the UN, European powers and the Gulf states have all denounced the proposed annexation of land that Israel captured in the 1967 war.
In addition, Netanyahu’s coalition partner Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, has urged a delay until the coronavirus pandemic has receded.
Israeli Education Minister Zeev Elkin dismissed the likelihood of any immediate annexations.