Netanyahu: Annexation not off the table, issue ‘is in Washington’

3 August 2020, 5:34 pm

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The prime minister tells his Likud faction that Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land is not off the table, but rather is up to the US administration to decide on.

“The issue of applying sovereignty is in Washington. It’s not off the table, the option still exists,” Netanyahu says.

A view of the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank, on July 1, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Netanyahu had declared his intention to move forward with annexation, under the auspices of the US peace plan, on July 1, but that date came and went without any movement on the matter, and in recent weeks Netanyahu has been largely silent on the issue.

Reports in recent months have indicated that the White House had cooled on the Israeli proposal, amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, race protests, upcoming national elections and other considerations.