Israeli Prime Minister vows to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if he wins next week’s general election. His election promise draws sharp, though impotent criticism from Middle Eastern countries, including the United States’ most reliable ally in the region, Saudi Arabia. Generally perceived to be the saboteur of the two-state solution, Netanyahu has been facing several corruption charges, his plans suggest to inflame the situation in the region.
“Today, I announce my intention after the establishment of a new government, to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the north Dead Sea,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech. He hinted to take these steps “immediately after the election if I receive a clear mandate to do so from you, the citizens of Israel”.
Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea constitute almost one-third of the West Bank, one of the three territories besides East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, which is supposed to become the part of the future state of Palestine. The area inhabits some 65000 Palestinians and around 11000 illegal Israeli settlers.
The embattled Netanyahu, who is facing opposition politically as well as legally, has thrown a bait by floating the dangerous proposition. Only time will tell its disastrous consequences if the majority of the electorates in Israel pick up this bait, which is likely to unleash another Intifada.
For Netanyahu’s stated plans to define the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Seas as the Jewish state’s eastern border in the future, is a blow to any Two-State solution. Because according to internationally proposed plans regarding the status of Israel and Palestine, the West Bank belongs to the latter.
However, the new designs outlined by the Netanyahu, who has been for Palestinians what Hitler had been for the Jews, would mean the Israeli land would encircle the future Palestinian state. Obviously, if it was ever realized.
Netanyahu saw an historic opportunity in this as he put it, “We haven’t had this kind of opportunity since the six-day war (of 1967) and may not have it again for another 50 years,” he said.
Sanity, A Rare Commodity Among Israeli Politicians
Although many secular Jews and the human rights groups in Israel advocate for a Two-State solution, Israeli politics is dominated by hawkish exclusiveness. That is one reason why Bibi, a nickname for Benjamin Netanyahu, has been thriving at the helm for so long. For, he has been able to keep inflicting the fears on the electorates’ minds that bringing any of his alternatives would mean a chance for an Arab-secular Jewish political alliance.
Probably the same reason explains why the Netanyahu’s Likud party’s main electoral rival Blue and White party had issued no such condemnation on Netanyahu’s new annexation design. Instead, Blue and White party’s leader Benny Gantz, neck in neck for future leadership, claimed ownership of the origin of the plan.
Now, the beleaguered Netanyahu who has been seeking both internal and external support is looking towards the US President for his nod of approval. The US response has yet to come. But recently President Donald Trump has set dangerous examples by recognizing Jerusalem as the Jewish capital, and the Golan Heights’s as Israeli territory.
By doing this, the US role as arbiter in the Two-state solution has already rendered into an open question. For, it is hardly the role of a judge, whose impartiality is the only thing that is required for the judicious expectation of a case.
