Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he would annex Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins another term in office, a last-minute pre-election promise likely to enrage Palestinians and the Arab world.
In an interview with Israeli Channel 12 News three days ahead of the April 9 poll, Netanyahu was asked why he had not extended sovereignty to large West Bank settlements, as Israel did without international recognition in east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, both captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Netanyahu goes full rogue state.
If re-elected, it'll be yet more ethnic cleansing and no Palestinian state at all. Israel will grab all land "west of Jordan."
He's out of control – encouraged by US/UK, his partners in crime.
Time to #StopArmingIsrael
https://t.co/DRXjN03N31— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) April 7, 2019
Netanyahu said:
“Who says that we won’t do it? We are on the way and we are discussing it.”
He added:
“You are asking whether we are moving on to the next stage – the answer is yes, we will move to the next stage. I am going to extend (Israeli) sovereignty and I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and the isolated settlements.”
The veteran right-wing Israeli leader, who has dominated Israeli politics for a generation, is fighting for his political survival against former top general Benny Gantz, a political novice campaigning on a centrist platform.
Any honest observer knows Israel has been strategically building settlements to make a 2-state solution impossible and saw “annexation” of the occupied West Bank was more than a decade in the making. https://t.co/rF06s6fCTB
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) April 6, 2019
Netanyahu has cast Gantz as a weak leftist who would endanger Israel’s security by giving territorial concessions to the Palestinians.
But Netanyahu, who has fought the election campaign under the shadow of corruption allegations, is also competing for votes with far-right parties who advocate annexation.
His comments are likely to appeal to hardline voters, who oppose ceding lands.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
