PM’s process flawed

Whether you support annexation or not, here is one thing everyone can agree on – applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria is a historic move, one that has the potential to change Israel for decades to come.

While the coronavirus is here and now, annexation is more vague. Does it change anything right away? Probably not. Israelis who live in annexed areas remain Israelis, and Palestinians who live nearby remain Palestinian. In the long term, though, this will change.

COVID-19 will one day (hopefully soon) become something the world will either cure or learn to live with, while annexation will be something whose consequences will remain unclear.

Will the European Union impose sanctions on Israel and downgrade relations? Will Jordan rip up the peace treaty? Will Palestinians launch a new intifada? Will the Democrats take the Oval Office, the Senate and the House in November and penalize Israel? And will apartheid become an accusation Israelis will have to get more used to hearing?

With so much at stake, it would be natural to expect our government to take this issue seriously, to hold a round of cabinet meetings, to convene panels of experts from different disciplines (security, economic, legal and more) and to then present its plans to the Knesset or even the public for discussion and debate.

Sadly, this is far from being the case. Instead, what we have is a classic example in how not to formulate policy and how not to make decisions of strategic and historic ramifications.

Just look at the past week. The animosity between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz is no secret. The disgust they show one another was on display for the world to see at Sunday’s cabinet meeting when Gantz threw his hands up in the air after Netanyahu refused to let him make some opening remarks.

Gantz got his revenge on Monday when he met with US