Washington, Sep 26: President Donald Trump has vowed not to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, offering strong assurances that he’d block a move that Arab leaders in the region have staunchly opposed.
Asked about Israel officials suggesting in recent weeks that their government could move to seize control of at least some parts of the West Bank, Trump was blunt.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” he told reporters in the Oval Office while signing executive orders unrelated to foreign policy on Thursday. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”
Possible annexation has been floated in Israel in response to a string of countries – including key US allies like the United Kingdom and Canada – moving to recognise a Palestinian state.
Trump said he’d spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that he’d be firm in not allowing annexation, adding, “It’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
Trump prides himself on his full-throated support for Israel, but has also sought to broker an end to the fighting in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His comments constituted a rare instance of potential pushback against top Israeli officials – even as Trump has continued to demand the release of hostages seized by Hamas.
The timing is also fraught, given that Israel is waging a major offensive in famine-stricken Gaza City, while expanding settlements in the West Bank, and Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the White House on Monday – his fourth trip to Washington since Trump’s second term began in January.
Unlike Gaza, the West Bank is administered by the Palestinian Authority.
Trump has long bragged about his close relationship with Netanyahu. But the president has faced pressure from Arab leaders, who have publicly expressed concerns about Israeli annexation. The United Arab Emirates has warned that any Israeli move to annex would be a “red line”.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. They, and much of the international community, say annexation would all but end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, which is widely seen internationally as the only way to resolve decades of Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israel’s current government strongly opposes Palestinian statehood and supports the eventual annexation of much of the West Bank.
There is some skepticism about Trump’s ability to compel Netanyahu one way or the other since the president criticised Israel’s recent attack on Hamas officials in Qatar, but hasn’t offered any major consequences as a result.
‘Deal is close on Gaza’
Trump on Friday said he believes the US is close to achieving a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that “will get the hostages back” and “end the war.” “I think we have maybe a deal on Gaza, very close to a deal on Gaza,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that an agreement to calm Israel’s war with Hamas is imminent – only to have nothing to show for it.
Weeks ago, he said, “I think we’re going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.” And Trump has made similar pronouncements before and after that. (AP)
