“The bypass, called The American Road, will connect Jewish settlements in the West Bank that are north and south of Jerusalem. The central and southern sections of the road are already being built, and tenders for the northernmost stretch “at a projected cost of $187 million“ will be issued toward the end of the year, a Jerusalem municipality official said on condition of anonymity…Palestinians say the new road will primarily benefit settlers, and will further undermine the feasibility of East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they seek in the West Bank and Gaza…Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli attorney who represented some Palestinian families affected by the construction, said the bypass fitted into a long-time strategy by Israel of using infrastructure projects to secure “de facto annexation” of territory. ‘What we are seeing here is, again, the seamless integration of the northern West Bank, East Jerusalem under sole Israeli control, and the southern West Bank for the purposes of the settlers.”

“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated Sunday in a joint meeting with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Knesset (Israel Parliament) Speaker Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi over preparations for July 1st — the proposed date set for launching the West Bank sovereignty plan. The talks yielded no definitive outcomes, and will resume on Monday, local media outlets reported. On Monday, foreign ministers of the European Union are expected to make a conference call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the Trump administration’s Peace to Prosperity Mideast peace initiative, which Washington unveiled in February.”

“In a watershed article in a leading Israeli newspaper, a top diplomat from the United Arab Emirates warned the Israeli public on Friday that unilateral annexation of West Bank territory would endanger Israel’s warming ties with Arab countries. Writing in Friday’s Yediot Ahronot, Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, appealed directly to Israelis in Hebrew to deter Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from following through on his promise to annex occupied territory as early as next month. ‘It’s Either Annexation or Normalization,’ the headline over his op-ed declared. The article rebutted an argument by Mr. Netanyahu that annexing West Bank land that the Palestinians have counted on for a state would not imperil Israel’s chances of forging deeper relations with countries like the Emirates and Saudi Arabia.”

“Jordan’s King Abdullah II has reportedly snubbed attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to the monarch, as tensions over Israel’s plans to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank rise. According to the Palestinian Maan news agency, King Abdullah refused to speak to Netanyahu over the phone and has avoided committing to any date to meet in the future with the prime minister or his coalition partner, Defence Minister Benny Gantz. Though King Abdullah and Netanyahu have long had testy relations – the former has turned down calls before and refused to meet the latter in August – a Jordanian source told Maan that the latest snub was directly related to Netanyahu’s annexation intentions.”

“As an associate of Blue and White leaders put it to Al-Monitor this week on condition of anonymity, ‘We have received veto power; we are not sure we will use it’.”

“The military is gearing up for possible massive unrest, Channel 12 reported Sunday evening, including what it is calling a potential “state of war” characterized by a Second Intifada-style onslaught of suicide bombing attacks.”

“Former prime minister Ehud Olmert gave a rare interview to a Saudi-owned Arabic-language news outlet, warning against Israel’s annexation of the Jordan Valley, an area that he said was irrelevant to Israeli security concerns, Channel 12 news reported Thursday ahead of the interview’s publication.”

“Right-wing lawmakers and pro-settlement groups were seething Tuesday after the High Court of Justice struck down legislation aimed at legalizing thousands of wildcat Israeli homes built on private Palestinian land. However, many of the frustrated politicians and pundits expressed hope that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will blunt the court’s decision by moving forward with his promise to annex large parts of the West Bank, including the territory where all of those illegal homes were established.”

“In the long term, if the Palestinian Authority cannot survive the impact of annexation, which will likely spark widespread popular unrest, it may disband and conclude its role. In this case, Israel would be responsible for the territories’ 2.7 million Palestinians in many realms, including law and order, basic welfare and security, and beyond. This would occur in conjunction with rising popular support in the Palestinian street for the idea of establishing one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as a substitute for the failed vision of a two-state solution. In addition to the security burden, Israel would be saddled with the burden of the Palestinian economy, without the assistance of the international community (which has contributed to the Palestinian Authority for years). Moreover, these problematic developments would significantly affect the democratic and demographic character of the State of Israel, as it would mean accelerating the slide into a reality of one state and undermining the fundamental vision of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, secure, and moral state, with recognized borders and international legitimacy.”

“Fasa’il is among 13 Palestinian communities, some 80,000 strong in all, in the Jordan Valley that, under the proposal, will become enclaves surrounded by an expanded Israel. But contrary to the 15 Israeli settlements slated to become enclaves, which were neatly listed on the plan’s conceptual map, Trump’s ‘Vision for Peace’ makes no mention of Fasa’il, or any of the 12 other Palestinian villages located in the middle of the Jordan Valley territory that Israel plans to annex…’We’ll become prisoners on our own land,’ said Iyad Abu Zein, who owns a convenience store in Fasa’il. ‘If I try to travel to [the West Bank cities] of Nablus or Jenin, I’ll be blocked from doing so’.”

‘Does it seem reasonable that no one is telling us what will happen to us if annexation takes place?’ asks Khaled, a 40-year-old resident of the village of al-Jiftlik, while sipping coffee along Highway 90, which traverses the entire valley. His village, along with ten others in the Jordan Valley, is expected to be annexed to Israel. ‘We’re totally in the dark, and that’s the worst situation to be in,’ he adds.”

“By disrupting the status quo, Palestinian leaders want to seize the world’s attention and scare Israel into abandoning annexation plans. But international donors have criticized the Palestinians for shirking their commitment to the peace accords, and ordinary Palestinians are paying the price for the disruptions in funds, policing and medical care.”

“EU foreign ministers will hold video talks with their US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Monday as rifts widen over how to handle relations with Israel, China and international organizations. The meeting kicks off a crunch week for trans-Atlantic ties, with a virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers starting Wednesday already overshadowed by Washington’s controversial plans to slash its troop presence in Germany.”

“If Israel does not allow Qatari aid money to reach the Gaza Strip, Hamas could soon act to end the calm which has prevailed in recent months and renew nightly operations as soon as next Friday, Palestinian sources told Kan news on Saturday. The source further told Kan that if the condition was not met in two weeks, Hamas would start sending units to ‘penetrate’ the Gaza border fence and potentially enter Israeli territory.”

“While the municipality said that Silicon Wadi is a ‘project by consent,’ the business owners in Wadi Joz appeared to be taken entirely by surprise when the orders to vacate showed up on their doorsteps. Until they were asked to vacate, most of them had not heard of the project, according to i24 News.”

“An Israeli cabinet minister on Sunday said the government approved plans to build a new settlement in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights named after President Donald Trump…The Israeli government’s approval of the plan, which according to Israeli media will involve earmarking 8 million shekels ($2.3 million) for developing the town, advances a project announced by Netanyahu last year with great pomp and fanfare. Sunday’s announcement coincided with Trump’s birthday, although it was unclear if it was connected. Last June, Netanyahu convened his Cabinet in the small hamlet of Qela for a vote on rebranding the community as a gesture of appreciation for the president’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The small town of Qela is home to under 300 people. Its original neighborhood of Bruchim, which will be rebranded as Trump Heights, is home to less than a dozen.”

Jessica Montell writes, “Right-wing critics were quick to attack the judgement of Israel’s High Court of Justice, striking down the Regulation Law that would allow the state to expropriate private Palestinian land where illegal settler homes have been built. These critics used the judgement to repeat their ludicrous allegations that the court is a radical left-wing body, acting against the will of the people. But on the left, there are also those who attack the court no less fiercely, as a fig leaf for the occupation. Some of these left-wing critics assert that we should never turn to the High Court, even to obtain relief for concrete injustices, lest we grant international legitimacy to this court. This is the wrong conclusion.”

“It wasn’t the first time that I had to admire the genius of the architecture of occupation, that not only maximizes Israeli control but also shapes Palestinian behavior. They built a wall that surrounds four villages from all sides.  They dug a tunnel to allow exit, but then they closed the tunnel for two hours, to remind residents that the army is in control. They prevented Palestinian police officers from reaching the enclave to impose order in the chaos that ensued, because the villages are classified as Area B under the Oslo Accords – the area where the Palestinian police is forbidden from operating. The soldiers were invisible to us, and the wall has become part of the landscape. So, like other drivers, I got angry at the idiot behind me who cut me off. And he really did behave like an idiot. But he wasn’t the one who built the wall or closed the tunnel.”

“The Palestinian Authority cannot pay government employees’ salaries for May after refusing to accept tax monies collected for it by Israel, which comprise 60% of the Palestinian leadership’s budget.”

“U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that his administration is placing sanctions on the International Criminal Court in retaliation for the court’s intention to probe the conduct of U.S. forces in Afghanistan…Israel was not mentioned in Trump’s executive order, but it was mentioned in a White House press statement that explained the decision. ‘Despite repeated calls by the United States and our allies to reform, the International Criminal Court has taken no action to reform itself and continues to pursue politically-motivated investigations against us and our allies, including Israel,’ the statement said.”

“The International Criminal Court has condemned the Trump administration’s decision to authorize sanctions against court staff, saying it amounted to ‘an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings.’ An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday authorizes sanctions against ICC staff investigating American troops and intelligence officials and those of allied nations, including Israel, for possible war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere.”

“Israeli officials tell me the plan to sanction the ICC was one of the main reasons for Pompeo’s trip to Israel. The discussion was kept to low profile by both sides and wasn’t mentioned during the many briefings before and after the visit.”

“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) told members of Congress this week that it has no objection to them criticizing Netanyahu’s annexation plans, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The powerful pro-Israel lobby usually works assiduously to discourage any criticism of Israel, making the new stance all the more noteworthy.”

“In individual letters sent last month and made public over the weekend, both senators — Klobuchar addressed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Smith wrote to Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz — posited that annexation would undermine efforts to attain a two-state solution. Twenty-eight senators have so far spoken out against the annexation proposal.”

“More than 50 Members of Congress signed a public letter calling on President Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, to denounce violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, in the same manner that he condemns violence committed by Palestinians against Israelis…The letter was initiated by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), and among those who signed it are Reps. Andy Levin (D-MI), Steven Cohen (D-TN), John Yarmuth (D-TN), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VA), Jen Shackowsky (D-IL) and Ayana Pressley (D-MA). The letter was supported by J Street, which put out a statement saying that ‘Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is an affront to the values we aspire to uphold as Americans. It’s harmful to interests of the United States, Israel and the Palestinians and further erodes the prospects for a negotiated end to the conflict’.”

“Shurat Hadin announced on Thursday that it has sent a threat letter to Citibank to cut off the Bank of Palestine and affiliated institutions involved in ‘pay for slay’ payments or face lawsuits in court.”

“The European Human Rights Court (EHCR) ruled on Thursday that a French criminal conviction against activists involved in a campaign to boycott products imported from Israel had no sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression.”

“Responding to today’s ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, that the convictions of 11 activists in France for campaign actions calling for a boycott of Israeli products violated their right to freedom of expression, Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s France Researcher said: ‘Today’s landmark decision sets a significant precedent that should stop the misuse of anti-discrimination laws to target activists campaigning against human rights violations perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians. Peaceful activists in France have been increasingly targeted using inappropriate laws and criminalized simply for freely expressing their views and advocating for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions as a tool to end human rights violations against Palestinians’.”