EU says Netanyahu annexation pledge undermines peace prospects

The EU warns that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank if he wins next week’s election undermines chances for peace in the region.

Netanyahu’s vow was roundly condemned by the Palestinians as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, and the EU says it will not recognize any change to Israel’s borders that was not agreed by both sides.

“The policy of settlement construction and expansion… is illegal under international law and its continuation, and actions taken in this context, undermine the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace,” an EU spokesperson says in a statement.

Yesterday, Netanyahu said he would extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley — an area seen as the breadbasket of any Palestinian state — shortly after forming a new government and would move later to annex other Jewish settlements.

Such action would swallow up most of the West Bank territory sought by the Palestinians, leaving them with little more than isolated enclaves.

Arab leaders angrily condemned Netanyahu’s remarks on , and a UN spokesman warned the step would be “devastating” to the prospects for a two-state solution.

— Agencies