The Israeli newspaper ‘Maariv’ reported on Tuesday evening that a meeting scheduled by Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of applying Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank has been postponed until further notice. The newspaper explained that amidst a wave of announcements from Western countries recognizing the matter, Netanyahu was supposed to hold this meeting just days before the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where a joint announcement is planned by several Western countries led by France regarding their recognition of a Palestinian state.
The newspaper pointed out that the United States will exert strenuous efforts to prevent this event from taking place on its territory, in light of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision not to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to enter the United States.
It is worth noting that Netanyahu proposed the idea of annexing the West Bank and the Jordan Valley in 2020, describing this step as a historical opportunity that comes once in a century. The idea of imposing sovereignty over the West Bank and the phrase ‘Greater Israel’ dates back to after the 1967 war, during which Israel occupied Palestinian and Arab lands, and is a phrase associated with a supposed geographical context of the region’s borders.
Currently, Israel is engaged in a wide-ranging war against the Gaza Strip, ongoing since October 7th, causing the deaths of more than 63,000 Palestinians and injuring about 160,000 others, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health data. Meanwhile, Netanyahu rejects all local and global calls to end the war and opposes any internal voices urging him to make a ceasefire deal.
