Issue of annexation continues to block sides from reaching unity deal — report

The issue of West Bank annexation continues to be a main sticking point preventing Blue and White and Likud from reaching an agreement on a unity government, according to a Channel 12 report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views the move as a legacy-maker and has been adamant about seeing the election promise through before he steps down.

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, on the other hand, has long opposed such unilateral measures. Gantz recognizes that the right-wing bloc currently has a majority in support of the move, with the votes of Telem mutineers Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser as well as Yisrael Beytenu’s seven MKs from the opposition. He therefore is hoping to influence the decision from the powerful position of defense minister, which he is slated to become, Channel 12 reports.

Gantz has also weighed conditioning his support for the move on a green-light from the US. Washington has said it will retract its veto once its mapping team finishes surveying the West Bank to determine how much land Israel is allowed to annex. But with that process currently frozen due to the coronavirus outbreak, Gantz is hoping that the US will have a change of heart. Netanyahu on the other hand is hoping that the Trump administration will want to move forward with a bold legacy move of their own at the end of its first term, even if it means breaking with a number of its allies around the globe.

Labor leader Amir Peretz and Gantz’s deputy Gabi Ashkenazi are calling for a more secure mechanism to be instituted in order to neutralize the right-wing’s support for annexation. They have called for the move to be contingent on support from the Jordanian government, which has long opposed the move and warned that it could place the future of its decades long peace deal with Israel at risk.