“In the meantime, different signals have been emanating from Washington in recent days. They suggest that the July 1 annexation announcement might be delayed because the White House is preoccupied with the domestic crisis. Still, Netanyahu mentions the annexation plan in almost every public appearance. He’ll find it hard to retract it completely amid the expectations he has stirred on the right; the settler leaders will want even more sweeping achievements. So far, the planned annexation hasn’t generated much attention among Israelis, who are more worried about the coronavirus and keeping their jobs. The two leaders of Kahol Lavan, Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, are taking a passive approach. Nor, for the time being, are defense officials making noises, despite their known reservations about the move. Annexation, they believe, could inflame the West Bank, complicate relations with the Gulf states and imperil the peace treaty with Jordan.”

“Israel’s Energy Minister on Thursday appeared to temper the government’s enthusiasm for the Trump administration’s Middle East peace proposal, saying that the Jerusalem has never promised to embrace every aspect of Washington’s plan. ‘We didn’t announce that we’re adopting the Trump plan, but rather parts of it, including the part that lets us extend Israeli law to settlements and the Jordan Valley,’ Yuval Steinitz (Likud) told Army Radio on Thursday. Steinitz, one Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest allies, made the comments amid growing complaints from right-wing activists, especially settler leaders, over the prospect of establishing a Palestinian state.”

“The military and other government institutions kept out of the process will also have to prepare for what it would mean practically to annex portions of the West Bank. If, for instance, the government did extend sovereignty over the Jordan Valley but not to the Palestinian towns and villages inside it, would the people living in these islands of Palestinian territory be able to travel freely between their communities and the rest of the West Bank, or would they require permits, as Palestinians need when entering Israel proper? The Netanyahu government’s decision to keep Israel’s security services out of the discussions marks a major shift in civil-military relations, particularly in terms of peace negotiations and preparations for territorial moves. In the past, representatives from the IDF and Shin Bet have taken part in such discussions — at least at some stage in the process — in order to provide their intelligence assessments and knowledge of their organizations’ own limitations, to ensure that they are able to operate under the government’s ultimate decision for how to proceed.”

“Mr. Liberman says he has little time for Mr. Netanyahu’s vow to annex occupied territory in the West Bank — a promise that the prime minister rolled out in April last year, on the eve of the first of the three elections to shore up right-wing support, and that he has been dangling before Israeli voters ever since. (The latest promise is to follow through after July 1.)…’You have a majority,’ he said. ‘What’s your problem? You speak about the Jordan Valley. Let’s go.’ Instead, Mr. Netanyahu has kept the discussion about annexation in the future tense, always adding a new twist in the newspapers. The dragged-out buildup has only ‘created a lot of noise around this issue,” he said. ‘And he gave time to all the people that are against it’.”

Shaul Arieli writes, “Territory that is annexed in the West Bank, and is populated by Palestinians, will likely receive the same type of treatment from the government and the municipality as the Jerusalem neighborhoods that were left to the east of the security and separation barrier. Kafr Aqab and the Shoafat refugee camp became a ‘no man’s land’ where a third of Jerusalem’s Arab population lives in conditions fostered by inadequate budgets, inadequate city services and a lack of law enforcement…It is impossible to elaborate here on all the negative effects caused by the annexation of the territory that would come to be known as East Jerusalem. But the lesson must be learned, and we should have no more celebrations of this imaginary ‘unity’ and ‘prosperity.’ As Meron Benvenisti once aptly described it: ‘As the feeling deepens that the ‘unified city’ is actually riven by barriers of hate, extremist and zealous officialdom ramps up its efforts to cultivate the anniversary of its conquest as an event of defiance, xenophobia and denunciation of traitors.’ We must avoid having Israel’s fate mirror that of a Jerusalem and not turn it into an impoverished country, beset by tensions and violence, with an Arab majority, and one that will become a pariah state due to the apartheid regime it will impose on the homeland of the two peoples, as it did in the capital.”

“The battle between settler leaders and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must not be allowed to hide the simple fact that annexation bears no relationship to Israelis’ vital interests. A responsible government would remove annexation from its agenda, and the sooner the better.”

“Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday warned against Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, saying the move would lead to ‘confrontation, anarchy and hopelessness.’ Safadi made the statements to an international summit discussing the Islamic State, Channel 13 reported. ‘As part of the war on terror, we must act quickly to prevent Israel from annexing one-third of occupied Palestine and the consequences of this decision,’ Safadi said. ‘Instead, negotiations must be resumed in order to achieve piece on the basis of a two-state solution’.”

“If Israel proceeds with its plan to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and settlements in Judea and Samaria, the European Union will take punitive measures of relatively little economic significance, European diplomats have been saying in recent talks ahead of the target date for Israeli sovereignty – July 1. The diplomats preferred not to be quoted by name due to the sensitivity of the issue. According to the European envoys, the internal working guidelines of EU institutions; the historical relationship between Israel and Germany, as well as other EU member nations; and Europe’s interest in maintaining good relations with Israel will ultimately prevent the EU from responding harshly to the application of Israeli sovereignty.”

“The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says the annexation of large areas of the Palestinian Territories by Israel would be illegal and ‘damaging to efforts to restart peace negotiations’. In a letter to MP Crispin Blunt, Mr Johnson said a ‘lasting resolution that ends the occupation’ and helped to deliver a peaceful solution was ‘long overdue’.”

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that unilateral Israeli annexation of the West Bank would undermine American national security interests and would harm bi-partisan support for Israel in America. Speaking at an online event organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Pelosi added that she is ‘very concerned’ about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements promising annexation moves as early as July 1. “

“An early ally of Nelson Mandela, journalist and author Benjamin Pogrund was among the first Jews to fight the South African apartheid regime. After he moved to Israel in the 1990s, he fought the accusation that Israel is an apartheid state….’I have argued, uphill and down dale, and lectured about it in a dozen countries and books and articles, that this is not apartheid. There is discrimination against the Arab minority and there’s an occupation in the West Bank — but it’s not apartheid,’ he said in an interview Thursday. ‘Come July 1, if we annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement areas, we are apartheid. Full stop. There’s no question about it’.”

“Nickolay Mladenov might just be the last person left with any shot at advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians…’The title on my business card is completely wrong,’ Mladenov joked during an interview inside the United Nations’ expansive Jerusalem headquarters. ‘I mean, there is no Middle East peace process. Most of our work now is preventive diplomacy, preventing war’.”

“As in all other contexts, businesses can play a positive role in the development of an occupied territory and the overall well-being of its population. They also, however, may feed into and profit from an unjust administration of the territory, including via structures established and maintained by an Occupying Power that perpetuate oppression, systemic discrimination, and the unlawful exploitation of natural resources. These latter policies may aim at permanently transforming an occupied territory, including physically, economically, and demographically, in contravention of international humanitarian and human rights law. “

“The big question is: what happens then? At that point, those who threatened sanctions in response to annexation will have to make a choice as well. It will be critical that they not reward Israel by accepting the status quo. On the contrary — having shown that the international community does carry weight, and that with enough determination it can get Israel to back down, Europe should build on the momentum and, in partnership with other allies, move forward to secure an end to the occupation. To do so, Europe must adopt a carrot-and-stick approach.”

“Norway said Thursday that it will withhold half of the year’s funding to the Palestinian Authority’s education system until it stops using textbooks that promote hate and violence. Foreign Affairs Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide made the announcement in response to a parliamentary question on the issue. She said Norwegian aid to the Palestinian education sector does not go for textbooks or other educational material, and is part of a larger program that includes donors from several countries. In 2019, the program included the construction of 220 new classrooms and 63 new public schools.”

“’All Knesset workers have been instructed to not arrive at parliament if their work is not essential,’ a statement from parliament said. Committee meetings were also postponed Thursday ‘until all the ramifications are examined.’ Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of the Joint List coalition in parliament, received a positive test result Wednesday evening. The other members of the Balad party, his faction of the Joint List, are currently in quarantine. ‘I appeal to all of those who have been in my immediate vicinity to self-isolate and get tested,’ Shehadeh tweeted. He continued, ‘The virus still exists between us and the return to normal is helping the virus spread in a large and fast way’.”

“Of course, we owe the Americans a thank you for the generous aid. But it’s also clear that assistance ‎creates dependence, just as it is clear that the moment it is conditional upon it being spent on ‎American products, we are not free to buy the equipment optimal for our needs at better prices, ‎thereby weakening Israeli industry. ‎American presidential candidates frequently refer to this assistance as something that should be ‎reconsidered, and President Trump goes to the trouble of reminding us from time to time that we ‎need to “pay” for American defense aid. ‎The money from the US does not account for more than one percent of Israel’s GDP. At one time, it ‎was critical, but now, it’s a habit. At age 72, we can manage without our parents’ help. The ‎establishment of a national unity government might be an opportunity for Israel to make a bold ‎decision about weaning ourselves off of it. A plan to gradually reduce it or even end it by 2028 would ‎be a gesture to the Americans in a time of coronavirus, and a declaration of independence for us. ‎”

“The climate crisis is coming hard and fast for the entire Middle East. Israel will see its summer extended by two months, and temperatures will reach 122 degrees. Precipitation will decrease by as much as 25 percent, a terrifying jump in water scarcity for an already arid region. And while there will be less precipitation overall, when it falls, it will come in storms, causing floods, storm surges, and heavy infrastructure damage. But in a pattern likely to play out throughout the world, these disasters will not be felt equally, across all sectors of society. Instead, by and large, Palestinians will face the worst of the region’s many coming climate disasters.”