Gantz: I’ll give equal rights to Palestinians in annexed areas

Alternate PM says he won’t apply Israeli law to places where many Palestinians live

Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz set out his parameters for West Bank annexation on Friday, pledging not to apply Israeli law to territory with large Palestinian population centers and offering equal rights to those Palestinians in territory over which Israel intends to apply sovereignty.

Gantz posted on his Facebook page his vision for moving toward a peace deal with the Palestinians, based on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which was unveiled in January.

“I won’t apply Israeli law in places where many Palestinians live or where their freedom of movement will be harmed,” said Gantz, who is also the Defense Minister and heads the Blue and White party. “If there are Palestinian residents in areas where Israeli law will be applied, they will be given equal rights.”

He wrote out his parameters with less than a week left until July 1, the earliest date by which, according to the coalition agreement between his party and the Likud, sovereignty can be applied to 30% of the West Bank as long as such a step has US approval.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was in Washington last week holding talks with officials on the parameters for Israeli annexation.

This included US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Special UN envoy Jared Kushner, who is a senior adviser to Trump.

Friedman returned to Israel without any final decision on annexation. Special Envoy Avi Berkowitz and a member of the joint Israeli-US mapping Committee Scott Leith also arrived in Israel on Friday with Friedman.

To date, neither the final details of Israel’s annexation plans nor the map of the territory to be annexed have been made public. The only map published is the one attached to the Trump peace plan when it was unveiled in late January.

That map gives Israel maximal territorial contiguity in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea and provides the Palestinians with maximal contiguity in the West Bank.

Effectively Israel will be able to annex 50% of Area C which is under Israeli military and civilian control and where all the settlements are located.

Areas A and B of the West

Bank, where all the large Palestinian population centers are located would remain under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority and would not be annexed to Israel. At present the 50% of Area C not annexed to Israel, would remain under Israeli military control for the next four years.

Should the

Palestinians