Sep 14th, 2019, 10:54 AM

Annexation for Peace?

By Lydia Wiernik
PM Netanyahu. Image Credit: Abir Sultan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Re-election Could Mean a Permanent End to Hope for a Two-State Solution

If re-elected on September 17th, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu will annex the West Bank. 

Netanyahu has been Prime Minister since 2009 and his leadership has been generally well-received. Israelis’ approval of his management of international and domestic affairs is around 60%, but that number drops to 27% when the Palestine conflict is considered. The hostility between Israel and Palestine runs deeper than Netanyahu’s recent annexation declaration, but the annexation fatally reopens a wound, eliminating  "the possibility of peace." 

The Prime Minister’s announcement looks to apply sovereignty over Israeli settlements in the West Bank. But Palestine Liberation Organization official Hanan Ashrawi says this act, as did Netanyahu’s previous promise to apply sovereignty to the communities in the West Bank, follows an agenda of "ethnic cleansing" (PLO). 

Both UN Secretary General António Guterres and the parties representing Arab-Israelis in the upcoming election agree that Netanyahu’s actions are devastating: “Netanyahu is systematically closing the historical files, he is liquidating the Palestinian issue and eliminating the possibility of a peaceful two-state solution….[this is] the official declaration that Israel is effectively an apartheid state,”  the Arab-Israeli party said.

Those intimate with the issue and past conflicts believe that Netanyahu is sacrificing any prospect of peace in order to preserve his ministry. 

Netanyahu's proposal suggests cooperation with the United States and its president. “The US plan,” Netanyahu said, “poses...a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank and other areas of importance to our heritage.” Trump has expressed his support of Netanyahu, whereas the previous Obama administration did not. Most of the world considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal; the US believes them an impediment to an Israel-Palestine peace deal, and Trump’s peace plan will allow the annexation.

September 18th, 2019: the election is too close to call. Netanyahu says Israel is at "a historic junction."

What's next for (former?) Prime Minister Netanyahu? For Israel and Palestine? For peace?

The vote is at a deadlock. There is a possibility of either a third election or the formation of a coalition government. Story will update as election progresses.