Arab countries and UN Secretary-General accuses Israeli Prime Minister of threatening peace, although rival Blue and White party claims Netanyahu stole its idea
September 11, 2019 09:59
Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank has been met with international outrage and condemnation.
Officials in Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all criticised the Israeli Prime Minister’s announcement, while Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called the policy “manifestly illegal” and a “war crime that would bury any chance of peace”.
The Arab League also denounced Mr Netanyahu, saying his plans to annex the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea were a “dangerous development” which would “torpedo” the peace process.
Yair Lapid, the co-leader of the Blue & White party, which will contest Tuesday’s Israeli legislative election against Mr Netanyahu, accused the Prime Minister of seeking not to “annex territories, he wants to annex votes”.
But Benny Gantz, his co-leader, appeared to agree with the Prime Minister when he said that the Jordan Valley is “a part of Israel forever” – and accused him of stealing Blue & White’s policy.
He added: “We are happy that Netanyahu has come around to adopt the Blue and White plan to recognise the Jordan Valley.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the plan would be “devastating” to prospects for peace, adding that “any Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied West Bank is without international legal effect”.
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, called on the UK Government and the rest of the world to “wake up and take a lead”.
Bernie Sanders, one of the candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for US President, tweeted: “Netanyahu's proposal to annex occupied territory would violate international law and make a two state solution nearly impossible. All who support Israeli-Palestinian peace must oppose it.”
In Britain, the senior rabbis of the Reform and Liberal synagogue movements issued a joint statement, in which they accused Mr Netanyahu of posing a “direct threat to the viability of a two-state solution”.
Rabbis Laura Janner-Klausner and Danny Rich said: “Evidence shows that the vast majority of British Jews are firmly against any Israeli expansion in the West Bank and such rhetoric represents both an immoral intention and yet another move that will alienate diaspora support for Israel.”
Yachad, a UK-based pro-peace group, warned that any annexation of the West Bank would make the Jewish State "responsible for the daily lives of almost three million Palestinians living inside the West Bank".
It added: “Annexation will force Israel to face a stark choice. Either it grants full equality to all Palestinians living in the West Bank, transforming itself into a bi-national state without a Jewish majority, or it refuses to grant those Palestinians equal rights, compromising the basic idea of a democratic state.
“Netanyahu’s words should serve as alarm bells to supporters of Israel who understand that Israel cannot survive as a Jewish and democratic state, without the conflict being resolved.
“Those who love Israel cannot afford to ignore these dangerous calls for annexation and must speak up for peace and an end to the occupation.”
The Board of Deputies has so far declined to comment.
Britain's Foreign Office did not respond to a request for comment.
