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Tehran 9 February _Israel mapping West Bank annexations under US Mideast plan: Netanyahu
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)_“We are already at the height of the process of mapping the area that, according to the Trump plan, will become part of... Israel. It won’t take too long,” he said at an election campaign rally in the Ma'ale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem al-Quds on Saturday.
Netanyahu also stressed that the area Israel plans to annex would include all West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.
He had already pledged to swiftly bring the annexation of the aforesaid areas to a cabinet vote following the publication of the US scheme.
However, after Netanyahu's pledge, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said Washington expected Tel Aviv to wait until after the March 2 general elections before making any moves toward annexation.
It would likely take “a couple of months” to complete work on detailed West Bank maps before Israel will be able to annex settlements and the Jordan Valley, Kushner said.
Elsewhere in his Saturday remarks, Netanyahu stressed that the Trump administration would back his annexation plans.
“Don’t be mistaken, the Americans will go along with this, President Trump will go along with this,” he said.
The Israeli premier further claimed that only he could secure American recognition for Israeli "sovereignty" over West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.
“I don’t trust [Blue and White party chairman] Benny Gantz,” he said, referring to his chief political rival.
Netanyahu also hailed a series of pro-Israel measures taken by the Trump administration, including the recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli “capital," the relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city, the recognition of Israeli “sovereignty” over Syria’s Golan Heights and the "legalization" of Israeli settlements.
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