White House: Netanyahu’s land swap proposed in ‘context of peace agreement’

The White House says the land swap that Netanyahu reportedly proposed to Trump administration officials recently was likely discussed in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

“This may have been one of many ideas discussed several weeks ago in the context of a peace agreement and not in the context of a separate annexation,” an administration official tells The Times of Israel.

Earlier, Channel 2 reported that Netanyahu suggested a land swap with Palestinians to US President Donald Trump’s Mideast policy advisers.

According to the report, the prime minister floated the idea to Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt in which the jurisdiction of several Israeli Arab villages in the Wadi Ara region would be transferred to the Palestinians in exchange for Israel annexing Jewish settlements in the Gush Etzion bloc in the West Bank.

The report did not indicate what the Trump administration’s response was to the suggestion.

— Raphael Ahren