Settler leader says he left meeting with Netanyahu ‘troubled,’ PM did not promise West Bank annexation

A leading Israeli settler says he failed to get assurances from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on annexation of the West Bank ahead of a meeting between the premier and US President Donald Trump today.

“Netanyahu listened and the meeting was substantive, but we left troubled despite the open discussion,” says Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, representing Israeli settlements in northern West Bank.

“In the end the prime minister did not say when sovereignty would come,” Dagan tells the Yedioth Aharonoth daily.

Dagan flew to New York to meet Netanyahu as part of a delegation from the Yesha Council, an umbrella body representing West Bank settlements.

The meeting on Sunday was held to pressure Netanyahu to insist on annexation during his talks with Trump, where the key issue is expected to be a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Trump has said he would not allow Israel to extend its sovereignty over the Palestinian territory.

“This government could be the one that signs on to the creation of a Palestinian state,” Dagan says. “The prime minister can apply sovereignty; that is what we expect of him.”