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Tuesday, 30 June _Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s highly-contentious scheme to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territory appears to be in disarray as his key coalition partner Benny Ganz and a group of US lawmakers signal their opposition to the move.
Netanyahu has set July 1 as the date to begin moving forward with the plan to impose the Tel Aviv regime’s “sovereignty” over about a third of the West Bank, including settlements and the fertile Jordan Valley.
As the deadline draws close, Israeli minister of military affairs Benny Gantz, who heads the Blue and White party, suggested on Monday that the annexation plan should be postponed while Israel is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
Gantz said fighting the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout should take precedence over any political decisions regarding the West Bank.
A source in Gantz’s party quoted him as telling a US delegation, made up of American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, White House Special Envoy Avi Berkowitz and mapping expert Scott Leigh, on Monday that the July 1 target date was “not sacred.”
“The only holy thing at the moment is getting people back into the workforce and taking care of coronavirus,” Gantz was quoted as saying. “Before making any political moves, we need to help the public to get back to earning a living with dignity.”
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