According to what was reported by the Hebrew news outlet “Walla” on Sunday, discussions between the two sides took place during their recent meeting in Washington. The talks focused on the issues of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. However, Sa’ar also discussed the annexation of the West Bank behind closed doors, asserting that Israel “is moving towards an announcement soon.” The site noted that Israel is preparing for this step away from the spotlight, amidst internal agreement on the necessity of imposing sovereignty. There is a debate on whether the announcement should be a purely ideological move or a reaction to increasing international moves to recognize the Palestinian state.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a “historic decision” regarding the annexation of the West Bank, emphasizing that “sovereignty is not granted by Washington, the United Nations, or Europe, but it is a decision that must be made in Jerusalem,” as he put it. It is worth mentioning that Netanyahu proposed the idea of annexing the West Bank and the Jordan Valley in 2020, describing it as a historic opportunity that comes only once a century.
In a speech delivered last Tuesday on the occasion of building 17 new settlements in the West Bank, Netanyahu said that Israel is closer than ever to imposing sovereignty over the West Bank. The idea of “Greater Israel” and the West Bank dates back to after the 1967 war, during which Israel occupied Palestinian and Arab lands. This phrase is associated with an alleged geographical context concerning the borders of the State of Israel in the region.
In June 1967, Israel occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem, as well as the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and the Golan Heights in Syria. Last January, an online page affiliated with the Israeli Foreign Ministry published an alleged map that included parts of the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt.
Israel currently occupies lands in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them or establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of June 5, 1967. Currently, Israel is waging a wide-ranging war against the Gaza Strip, ongoing since October 7, which has resulted in the death of more than 63,000 Palestinians and injured about 160,000 others, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Netanyahu rejects all local and global calls to end the war and opposes any internal voices urging him to make a truce deal.
