‘If Israel annexes, it will annex all settlements’
Belgian parliament moves towards call for sanctions
Israel has not proposed to extend sovereignty to part of the settlements or to move forward in stages, a source involved in the matter said on Thursday.
The US-Israel mapping committee is still working on outlining all settlements and the Jordan Valley, making up 30% of the West Bank, which would be part of sovereign Israel according to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
The source denied media reports that Israel has moved to a phased annexation plan and proposed to only annex Ma’ale Adumim, Ariel and Gush Etzion in the short term.
Settlements Minister Tzipi Hotovely, a member of the mapping committee, similarly told Army Radio that “all the maps published have no connection to reality” and that a differentiation between major settlement blocs and other settlements “will never pass.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu originally planned a different kind of phased annexation, immediately after Trump presented his plan in the White House on January 28. Netanyahu’s political spokesman tweeted that there would be a cabinet vote on settlement annexation within days, and sources close to the prime minister briefed journalists that the vote would only be on the settlements, with a later vote on the exact 30% of the West Bank on a later date.
However, the White House pushed back against the idea, seeking one vote on the sovereignty the plan proposed, and soon after the US-Israel mapping committee came into being. Netanyahu’s spokesman deleted the tweet.
US Ambassador to Israel David Freidman is expected to meet with Netanyahu, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister
Gabi Ashkenazi to discuss the matter on Sunday.
Asked Thursday night whether now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, is the best time for extending Israeli law to more land, Netanyahu said he is holding discussions “with the American government and within my own government,” and “trying to reach the optimal result.”
“The less I talk about it now, the greater chance we’ll get the best result... for Israel in applying sovereignty in our homeland,” he said, calling the Trump plan “historic.”
Hotovely referred to these differences, saying “there is no agreed-upon map, but there are many outlines.
“There are two schools of thought on the American side, too,” she added, an apparent reference to Friedman who is more in favor of sovereignty, and Trump’s Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, who has reportedly cooled on the idea.
US officials have repeatedly and publicly said it is Israel’s decision whether to adopt the plan or not, and are seeking a buy-in from Gantz to move forward.
The source with knowledge of US-Israel talks on applying sovereignty said that there is not a lot of distance between
Gantz and Netanyahu’s positions, and that both are being deliberative and weighing the cost and benefits of moving forward with the plan.
Having Gantz on board, even though Netanyahu has a majority in favor of annexation without him, would show the plan has broad support, according to Trump administration thinking. Such support would give the move more longevity and make it less likely that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden could easily reverse it.
Gantz spoke with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell on Thursday.
The alternate prime minister told Borrell he is “committed to promoting the peace process,” and emphasized that he wants an “open dialogue with the European community and regional partners.” He also said he “will do all it takes to protect Israel’s security.”
Borrell has repeatedly criticized Israel for considering extending its laws to parts of the West Bank, despite a lack of unanimity among EU member states in approval of the statements he has released.
While the EU has not made specific threats to Israel, there are a number of areas in which EU-Israel ties can be weakened if the government proceeds with annexation, such as the multi-billion euro Horizon program for scientific cooperation, which is up for renewal next year.
However, formal sanctions are not on the table, because they require unanimity and some member states have ruled them out.
Though Israel has yet to make decisions about whether and how to proceed with annexation, Belgium, one of the EU countries that is least friendly to Israel, began in recent days to discuss measures in response.
Last week, the Belgian Chamber of Representative’s Foreign Affairs Committee approved a motion to support EU economic sanctions on Israel if Israel proceeds with annexation, which passed with an easy majority and is likely to pass in the plenary. The decision would not be binding, as the EU sets trade policy.
The same committee voted in favor of another measure this week to recognize a Palestinian state, which passed by one vote, and is less likely to be approved by the plenary.
Sweden is the only EU country to recognize a Palestinian state in recent years, though other parliaments called on their governments to do so. Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and Slovakia recognized a Palestinian state when they were in the Soviet sphere and officially never reversed the decision.
Belgium currently has a caretaker tasked only with responding to the coronavirus pandemic, so parliamentary decisions are more significant than in a time that there is a majority-backed government.
Israeli diplomats in Brussels plan to appeal to the Belgian Right and centrists to oppose the motions.