Annexation will happen shortly, vows PM

Israel will be able to apply its laws to the West Bank in a couple of months following a pledge from US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, at an online conference of pro-Israel Christians, which marked the centennial of the San Remo conference that recognized Jews’ right to self-determination in their historic homeland.

“Three months ago, the Trump peace plan recognized Israel’s rights in all of Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said. “President Trump pledged to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Jewish communities there and in the Jordan Valley. In a couple of months from now, I’m confident that pledge will be honored, that we will be able to celebrate another historic moment in the history of Zionism.”

The Trump peace plan would allow Israel to annex 30% of the West Bank, including all settlements and the entire Jordan Valley, while providing the Palestinians with a massive economic-aid package to support their establishing a demilitarized state, if they meet certain conditions, including stopping incitement, payments to terrorists and instituting civil rights.

The coalition agreement between Likud and Blue and White, signed last week, states that annexation can be brought to a vote in the cabinet or Knesset on July 1 at the earliest.

The Palestinian Authority and Jordan have been on a diplomatic blitz in recent weeks, lobbying the international community to condemn the possible annexation. France threatened at the UN Security Council on Thursday such a move “would not pass unchallenged and shall not be overlooked in our relationship with Israel.”

Netanyahu spoke in a video message at an online conference of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI) in honor of the 100th anniversary of the San Remo conference, in which the Allied powers in World War I divided up territory part of the Ottoman Empire.

“A century after San Remo,