Netanyahu, US discuss annexing of settlements; Abbas meets Putin
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he has been discussing legislation with the United States that would effectively annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, but the White House denied it in a rare show of disunity. The move would severely harm remaining prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and draw international outrage. “Regarding the issue of applying sovereignty, I can tell you that I have for some time been speaking with the Americans about it,” Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud party, according to comments relayed by a spokesman.
Later yesterday, the White House denied having such discussions and a senior Israeli official said Netanyahu had not made a specific annexation proposal to Washington. “Reports that the United States discussed with Israel an annexation plan for the West Bank are false,” White House spokesman Josh Raffel said. “The United States and Israel have never discussed such a proposal, and the president’s focus remains squarely on his Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.”
Netanyahu said he wanted to coordinate any such move with the United States because of the country’s strategic
importance to Israel. The comments come as Netanyahu is under pressure from right-wing politicians to move ahead with legislation that would apply Israeli sovereignty to settlements in the West Bank. Two lawmakers, including one from Netanyahu’s party, have such proposed legislation.
Netanyahu blocked it from being advanced on Sunday, with officials citing the need to focus on security issues following a confrontation that led to Israeli air strikes in Syria at the weekend. Unilateral annexation of settlements would be sure to draw international outrage, though Netanyahu’s government has been bolstered by the unstinting support of US President Donald Trump. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December in a move praised by Netanyahu as “historic”, but denounced by the Palestinians and most of the rest of the world.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said any annexation would “destroy all efforts to try and save the peace process”. “No-one has the right to discuss the situation of the occupied
Palestinian lands,” Abu Rdainah said from Moscow, where Abbas was holding talks with President Vladimir Putin amid reports they may discuss new options for Middle East mediation. Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned the remarks as amounting to “land theft” with US complicity.
Putin said yesterday at the start of talks with Abbas that he had discussed the Middle East conflict with Trump. “I just spoke with American President Trump,” Putin told Abbas before continuing the talks behind closed doors. “Obviously we spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The “situation is far from what we want to see,” Putin told his guest, adding that he has “always supported the Palestinian people”. “It is very important for us to know your personal opinion in order to set the record straight and put in place a common approach to solve this problem,” Putin said.
Abbas has refused any contact with Trump’s administration since Washington’s decision at the end of last year. “Given the atmosphere created by the United States’ actions, we... refuse any cooperation with the United States as a mediator,” said Abbas. “In case of an international meeting, we ask that the United States be not the only mediator, but just one of the mediators.” Abbas’ meeting with Putin came two weeks after Netanyahu also visited Moscow.
As Netanyahu’s comments made headlines yesterday, an Israeli official issued a clarification. Netanyahu “did not present the United States with specific annexation proposals, and in any case the United States did not give its consent to the proposals”, the official said on condition of anonymity. “Israel updated the United States on various proposals raised in the (parliament), and the United States expressed its clear position that it seeks to advance President Trump’s peace plan.” The official added that Netanyahu’s position “is that if the Palestinians persist in their refusal to negotiate peace, Israel will present its own alternatives”.
While Israel would expect to retain certain settlements in any two-state peace deal, longstanding international consensus has been that their status must be negotiated. The same consensus has been in place for decades regarding the status of Jerusalem, with the Palestinians wanting the eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state.
Israeli settlements are located in what is known as Area C of the West Bank, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the Palestinian territory. Annexing all settlements would leave little space for a Palestinian state. Netanyahu heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history, and prominent ministers openly oppose a Palestinian state. Those who oppose a Palestinian state advocate for Israel to annex most of the West Bank, citing Jews’ historical ties to the land from the biblical era.
Netanyahu says he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves, but in recent months has declined to specify whether that would mean an independent Palestinian state or some lesser form of autonomy. He has stressed recently that Israel must retain security control in the Palestinian territories under any peace arrangement. “Whether or not it’s defined as a state when we have the military control is another matter, but I’d rather not discuss labels, but substance,” he said when meeting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Jan 31. Gabriel said there was “growing frustration” in Europe with Israel’s actions.
While Trump has offered strong support of Israel, he said in an interview published Sunday that he was “not necessarily sure” the country was seeking to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. “Right now, I would say the Palestinians are not looking to make peace. They are not looking to make peace,” Trump said in the interview with right-wing Israeli paper Israel Hayom. “And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens.”
Trump also expressed concerns about Israeli settlement building, although his administration has been far less critical of settlements than his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has in the past been a supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. “The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements,” Trump said.