For annexation to work it needs clarity and preparedness
Israelis deserve to know what their government is planning on doing.
By JPOST EDITORIALPresident Rivlin meets with commanders in the IDF's Judea and Samaria Division.(photo credit: Mark Neiman/GPO)
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi has reportedly told the government that the military is not prepared for the potential fallout from annexing parts of the West Bank. Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) alongside heads of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) are warning of a severe outbreak of violence. In the Foreign Ministry there are concerns what will happen to the already tenuous ties Israel has with its neighbor to the East, Jordan.This is the context within which Israel seems to be heading toward unilateral annexation of large parts of the West Bank. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not revealed how much land he plans to annex, government officials speak about 30%, including the Jordan Valley and all of the areas where Israeli settlements are located, even those isolated and surrounded by Palestinian towns and villages.Settler leaders are also torn over the plan. There are those like Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi who support the plan. “If we do not learn how to embrace the plan... a sword will once again be placed on the neck of the settlements,” he recently wrote.Other leaders of the settlement enterprise have made it their goal to sabotage the plan, either out of a desire to see it improved or simply because that is what they have done for years to every other plan that has been put on the negotiating table to try and solve the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and why should this one be any different?One of those working against the plan is Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council. Dagan represents the more radical flank within the settler leadership and in his efforts to sabotage the implementation of the plan is doing everything he can, including releasing allegedly false statements to the press.One of those statements came out on Wednesday when Dagan claimed that the Trump administration had told Israel that once sovereignty was applied over portions of the West Bank, Israel would need to waive its right to the rest of that territory, including in Area C, which is now under Israeli rule.A senior US official shot back, telling The Jerusalem Post that Dagan’s claim “is a complete lie and whoever is spreading it is doing great damage to Israel, the US and the Jewish people.”These attacks against the plan to annex Israeli territory in the West Bank will continue in the run up to the July 1 deadline Netanyahu has set for applying Israeli law to territory that it has refused to do so to for over 53 years, since Israel conquered it from Jordan in the Six Day War.With just a month left until the Netanyahu-set deadline, two important steps need to be taken. First, Israel’s security forces need to be ready for an outbreak of violence. While all indicators in recent years are that the Palestinian Authority is against violence, unilateral annexation could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and combined with high unemployment due to the coronavirus, annexation could be the trigger that gets tens of thousands of Palestinians to take to the streets.The second step involves preparing the public and revealing what exactly is going to happen, including how and why. While Netanyahu has spoken numerous times about the historic window of opportunity Israel currently has under the Trump administration to annex territory, he has given little additional information. What exactly will be annexed? What will happen to Israeli settlements after annexation? Will they be able to build and how much? And, what will happen to Palestinians who live in the annexed territory? Will they receive Israeli citizenship or not?
With just a month left until possible annexation, now is the time to answer those questions. Israelis deserve to know what their government is planning on doing especially when these decisions pertain to something as historic as the application of Israeli law to Judea and Samaria.The US administration has shown a deep friendship to Israel with this plan as well as with past steps like recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Let’s not miss this opportunity because of poor management, lack of transparency and petty politics.
