“Today, with the fig leaf of ‘temporary occupation’ as cover, pragmatic ‘pro-peace’ voices continue to insist – against all evidence – that the only way to restrain Israeli policies in the West Bank is through ending the occupation itself, which can only come through negotiations. And subjecting Israel to too much pressure for these same policies will make the return to such negotiations less likely, and the achievement of an end to occupation more difficult.”

“During his speech, the Prime Minister presented his annexation vision on a map of the Jordan Valley – a map riddled with mistake – which highlighted the area he says he intends to annex,an area which constitutes nearly a quarter of the area of the West Bank (22.3%). Within the land Netanyahu wants to annex, 30 settlements have been constructed with Israeli government approval, and settlers have established an additional 18 illegal outposts without explicit government permission (but with its tacit approval). Many of these outposts and settlements are built on privately owned Palestinian land that Israel previously declared a ‘closed military zone’ – a designation which prevents Palestinians from legally entering the area much less building there. Israeli settlers who illegally entered into these closed areas and built in them are now being rewarded under Netanyahu’s proposed annexation.”

“The Israel Defense Forces on Monday announced that it was shutting down all crossings into Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for Tuesday’s national elections, as is standard practice during Jewish and national holidays. The military said the closure would begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and last for 24 hours, pending a situational assessment.”

“Speaking to Army Radio, Netanyahu vowed to also apply Israeli sovereignty to ‘vital areas’ outside the settlement blocs, but did not elaborate. He also spoke of a phased process of annexations coordinated with the Trump administration.”

Peace Now: “This official establishment of another settlement proves yet again that the government is unencumbered by the thought of international backlash or the end to Israeli democracy on its way to annex Area C. The government continues to show blatant disregard for reaching a two-state conflict-ending agreement with the Palestinians. Instead, it prefers to take new strides in formalizing the acquisition of occupied territory and to control the area’s resources while permanently keeping the Palestinian population confined without full rights in isolated cantons.”

“A source with knowledge of their conversation said Netanyahu told the attorney general that US President Donald Trump’s peace plan will likely put such outposts at risk for evacuation and that the government must act immediately to legalize Mevo’ot Yeriho and ‘combat’ the plan before it is introduced, ostensibly shortly after Tuesday’s election.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will annex Hebron and the adjacent West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. He made the statement on Monday morning during an interview with Army Radio, 24 hours before the opening of the polls for national elections in Israel”

“Legal officials in the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces have reportedly concluded that Israel could allow Jews for the first time to purchase property in the West Bank as private individuals, which would mark a significant achievement for settlers and make it easier for them to acquire land.”

“Around 50 people came out to demonstrate a week ago Sunday against the new Israeli outpost on the lands of Beit Jala, a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. The outpost is being built a few meters above the site where Israel’s High Court of Justice recently approved the razing of the Qassiyeh family’s restaurant and house.”

Ian Lustick writes, “Benjamin Netanyahu scores points by promising to annex the West Bank. If he does, Israel faces a long transformative struggle between apartheid and multinational democracy—and democracy  will win.”

“It means less space to navigate, less places to breathe. It’s taking what’s already fractured and ruptured and downsizing it further,” says Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian-American writer living in Ramallah. In 2014, Israeli authorities charged her with throwing stones and entering a closed military zone during a protest, charges stridently denied by Barghouti, who was a student at the time. She was detained for a week. “Annexation means more places that Palestinians can’t reach, it means more detours, and divisions. It’s not just taking more land, it’s a theft of our time,” Barghouti continues, “because we need to calculate the time it takes to cross checkpoints, it’s accessibility to resources, it’s settler-colonialism and it’s about time to call these annexations exactly that.”

“The cable-car project is an example, illustrating how Israel wields architecture and urban planning to extend its authority in the occupied territories. Whatever its transit merits, which critics say are negligible, the cable car curates a specifically Jewish narrative of Jerusalem, furthering Israeli claims over Arab parts of the city.”

“But for all his rage over having been ‘robbed’ in April and over the possibility of enduring another “theft” on Tuesday, the evidence Netanyahu has presented proving the voter fraud has been limited at best, with the Central Elections Committee saying it has not established any significant cases of fraud.”

“U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible mutual defense treaty between the two nations, a move that could bolster Netanyahu’s re-election bid just days before Israelis go to the polls.”

“Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Justice Hanan Melcer ruled on Sunday that to be allowed to bus voters, the group must register as an “organization active in the election” with the State Comptroller’s Office. The NGO in turn decided to give up on its plans.”

“On Tuesday the election will take place, and it’s so natural to Israelis that their right to vote includes the crudest intervention in the lives of about 5 million people who are denied the right to vote. Say what you will, but Israel is a democracy. And most Jewish Israelis will once again vote in a totally free election for parties for which our right to rule and abuse another people is a sacred principle enshrined in their platforms. So that’s the Israeli problem: that our right to vote includes the right to deny the Palestinians so much – abstract things such as rights and concrete things such as life, health, a livelihood and freedom. And most Jewish Israelis don’t even think it’s a problem. And when someone protests, they reply: But after all, that’s what we decided by majority vote.”

“Benjamin Netanyahu was the silver-tongued, M.I.T.-educated sophisticate. Avigdor Liberman was a penniless former bar bouncer from Moldova, happy to be the hatchet man. Ever since, the two right-wing politicians have alternately aided and tormented each another, like lovers locked in a turbulent relationship. Now they are barreling toward a climactic denouement, as Israel votes in a national election on Tuesday that could reshape the country’s political landscape and determine whether Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, will be sent into retirement, and whether Mr. Liberman, his former deputy, is launched on a path to one day replace him or into political oblivion.”SIGN UP”

“While a majority is dissatisfied with the behavior of the PA and Palestinian factions in response to the Israeli demolition of homes in Wadi al Hommos, a greater majority believes that Abbas’ response, to stop implementation of agreements with Israel, is merely a media stunt and will not be implemented; and while support for two-state solution declines, support for armed attacks rises and an overwhelming majority rejects the US “’deal of the century’ and believes it will not end the occupation. In domestic matters, an overwhelming majority views ‘honor killing’ as a heinous crime, a majority has no trust in the Palestinian judiciary, and more than 60% demand the resignation of president Abbas.”

“There are three specific untruths related to Camp David that I would like to see Barak address (it would be impossible to address all the untruths at op-ed length). They do not require him to accept any blame for the collapse of the talks; in fact, coming to terms with the lessons of Camp David arguably requires transcending the sophomoric blame game for which the summit has become notorious.  “

“Yamina candidate Naftali Bennett unveiled Sunday what he claimed was the long-delayed Trump peace plan’s scheme for dividing the West Bank between Israel and the Palestinians. His party later acknowledged it had “compiled” the map itself based on various reports.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘only talked about the carrots of the Trump plan, he didn’t mention the sticks,’ Shaked told Channel 12’s Meet the Press program. ‘He didn’t talk about how they’re going to divide Jerusalem. The plan includes giving East Jerusalem neighborhoods to the Palestinians.'”

Marsha Cohen writes, “Indeed, an examination of news stories about the Adelsons in the Israeli press over the past year and a half, Netanyahu has been conspicuously absent at major Adelson-honoring events. He was not present at the ceremonies at which U.S. Ambassador David Friedman presented Miriam (who is a medical doctor) with an honorary doctorate on behalf of Bar-Ilan University on June 4, 2019, nor at one at which one was conferred on Sheldon by the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) of Herzliya—an Adelson-funded academic think tank—on July 5.”