sovereignty’ to large chunks of the West
Bank, including the Jordan Valley, on 1 July.
The Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Israel’s
moderate Arab neighbours, Russia and the
European Union have all warned Tel Aviv
against the move.
Mossad chief-turned covert diplomat Yossi
Cohen is planning a whirlwind trip across the
Middle East to quietly meet with moderate
Sunni Arab leaders to personally try to
convince them to temper their opposition to
Israel’s plans to take control over about a
third of the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post
has reported .
Cohen, known for his quiet diplomacy,
reportedly already travelled to Egypt late last
month to meet with senior Egyptian
government and intelligence officials to
discuss Israel’s West Bank plans and the
Palestinians’ possible reaction.
Before that, Cohen travelled to Qatar, and
established contacts with Saudi Arabia other
Gulf states. Only two Arab nations – Egypt
and Jordan, enjoy normalised diplomatic
relations with Tel Aviv, while neighbours
Syria and Lebanon, as well as Iraq, the Gulf
nations, Libya and others have yet to do so
following multiple Arab-Israeli wars and
disagreements over the treatment of the
Palestinians.
Multiple countries have now warned
Netanyahu against moving forward with his
West Bank plans. Late last week,
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn
called the plans “a gross violation of
international law” and suggested that the EU
should recognise Palestinian statehood in
response. Before that, German Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas travelled to Israel
personally to warn officials that there would
be “consequences” if the Jewish State
moved forward. More than a dozen Western
embassies sent notes of protests to the
Israeli government, saying that if
implemented, Israel’s initiative would destroy
the chances of regional peace, and harm Tel
Aviv’s standing before the rest of the world.
Russia, for its part, has indicated that it
would see annexation as “a very dangerous
development” which would “cross out the
prospects of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement
and provoke a new round of violence.”
Jordan has warned that it would be forced
to reconsider the 1994 peace treaty with
Israel, while Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas has said that East
Jerusalem will no longer be found by
agreements with Israel and the US, including
those related to security matters. The United
Arab Emirates, meanwhile, says annexation
would undermine broader Arab-Israeli
rapprochement beyond the Palestinian issue.
Netanyahu has vowed to move forward with
the initiative, with the Trump administration
pledging its support. On Sunday, on
President Trump's 74th birthday, the Israeli
prime minister announced that "practical
steps" were being taken to move forward
with the construction of the so-called
'Trump Heights' settlement in the Israeli-
occupied Syrian Golan Heights.he Netanyahu government plans to ‘apply
sovereignty’ to large chunks of the West
Bank, including the Jordan Valley, on 1 July.
The Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Israel’s
moderate Arab neighbours, Russia and the
European Union have all warned Tel Aviv
against the move.
Mossad chief-turned covert diplomat Yossi
Cohen is planning a whirlwind trip across the
Middle East to quietly meet with moderate
Sunni Arab leaders to personally try to
convince them to temper their opposition to
Israel’s plans to take control over about a
third of the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post
has reported .
Cohen, known for his quiet diplomacy,
reportedly already travelled to Egypt late last
month to meet with senior Egyptian
government and intelligence officials to
discuss Israel’s West Bank plans and the
Palestinians’ possible reaction.
Before that, Cohen travelled to Qatar, and
established contacts with Saudi Arabia other
Gulf states. Only two Arab nations – Egypt
and Jordan, enjoy normalised diplomatic
relations with Tel Aviv, while neighbours
Syria and Lebanon, as well as Iraq, the Gulf
nations, Libya and others have yet to do so
following multiple Arab-Israeli wars and
disagreements over the treatment of the
Palestinians.
Multiple countries have now warned
Netanyahu against moving forward with his
West Bank plans. Late last week,
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn
called the plans “a gross violation of
international law” and suggested that the EU
should recognise Palestinian statehood in
response. Before that, German Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas travelled to Israel
personally to warn officials that there would
be “consequences” if the Jewish State
moved forward. More than a dozen Western
embassies sent notes of protests to the
Israeli government, saying that if
implemented, Israel’s initiative would destroy
the chances of regional peace, and harm Tel
Aviv’s standing before the rest of the world.
Russia, for its part, has indicated that it
would see annexation as “a very dangerous
development” which would “cross out the
prospects of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement
and provoke a new round of violence.”
Jordan has warned that it would be forced
to reconsider the 1994 peace treaty with
Israel, while Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas has said that East
Jerusalem will no longer be found by
agreements with Israel and the US, including
those related to security matters. The United
Arab Emirates, meanwhile, says annexation
would undermine broader Arab-Israeli
rapprochement beyond the Palestinian issue.
Netanyahu has vowed to move forward with
the initiative, with the Trump administration
pledging its support. On Sunday, on
President Trump's 74th birthday, the Israeli
prime minister announced that "practical
steps" were being taken to move forward
with the construction of the so-called
'Trump Heights' settlement in the Israeli-
occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
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