The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
Trump administration sees ‘no change in policy’ after Netanyahu annexation bid
A Trump administration official says “there is no change in United States policy at this time. We will release our Vision for Peace after the Israeli election and work to determine the best path forward to bring long sought security, opportunity and stability to the region.”
Erekat on Netanyahu annexation: ‘Israelis and the world must stop this insanity’
Senior Palestinian official and former top peace negotiator Saeb Erekat, who lives in Jericho in the Jordan Valley, slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to apply Israeli sovereignty over most of the area.
“Netanyahu announced his plan to annex the Jordan Valley and Palestine’s 37.2 kilometer shore along the Dead Sea,” Erekat tweets.
“If he succeeds, he will have buried any chance for peace for the next 100 years. Israelis and the international community must stop this insanity. Annexation is a crime. It means reinforcing apartheid, violence, extremism and the spilling of blood.”
Settlement advocacy group ‘fully anticipates’ annexations beyond Jordan Valley
Regavim, a pro-settlement advocacy group, is one of the few bodies congratulating Netanyahu for his promise to annex the Jordan Valley.
“More than five decades after the return of the Jewish People to Judea and Samaria, we congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu for taking a historic step toward the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the Jewish People in their ancestral homeland,” the group says.
“The Prime Minister’s announcement that immediately following the elections he intends to extend Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is a historic moment in the history of the Jewish People, which took its first steps as a nation when it crossed into the Promised Land in the Jordan Valley. We fully anticipate that Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley will be the first step toward a much broader extension of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”
A Regavim spokesperson adds: “The first step toward sovereignty is law enforcement and establishing facts on the ground. Prime Minister Netanyahu: The true test will be in actions, not announcements – and it is your hands. We expect the State of Israel to take concrete steps to halt the Palestinian Authority’s takeover of the Jordan Valley in order to make Israeli sovereignty a reality.”
Palestinian official: Netanyahu annexation bid ‘destroys chances of peace’
A senior Palestinian official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to annex the Jordan Valley if re-elected destroys all chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
“He is not only destroying the two-state solution, he is destroying all chances of peace,” senior official Hanan Ashrawi tells AFP. “This is a total game changer.”
In a tweet, Ashrawi adds: “Netanyahu’s cheap pandering to his extremist racist base exposes his real political agenda of superimposing ‘greater Israel’ on all of historical Palestine & carrying out an ethnic cleansing agenda. All bets are off! Dangerous aggression. Perpetual conflict.”
Netanyahu’s cheap pandering to his extremist racist base exposes his real political agenda of superimposing “greater Israel” on all of historical Palestine & carrying out an ethnic cleansing agenda. All bets are off! Dangerous aggression. Perpetual conflict.— Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) September 10, 2019
Binyamin regional head calls on Netanyahu to annex entire West Bank
Binyamin Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz lauds Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex the Jordan Valley if he wins next week’s election, but asserts that the move must be immediately followed by the annexation of the remaining settlements in the West Bank.
“There is no reason in the world why Judea and Samaria residents should continue to live as second class citizens of the State of Israel. The move must be complete, applying sovereignty to the Binyamin area and throughout all of Judea and Samaria,” he says.
Trump abruptly fires John Bolton
US President Donald Trump announces on Twitter he had fired his national security adviser John Bolton.
“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore….”
“….I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.”
I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2019
Peace Now dismisses ‘delusional’ annexation as ‘selling out our future’
Peace Now, which backs Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, mocks Netanyahu’s “delusional” promise to annex the Jordan Valley.
“Netanyahu’s delusional post-election annexation is further evidence of the limitless cynicism of a prime minister buried neck deep in serious corruption cases.”
The group notes he’s “opposed annexation for years. This is an election ploy by the head of a caretaker government who, evening after evening, puts on ever more delusional demonstrations of his irresponsibility. What won’t the allegedly corrupt suspect from Balfour [the PM’s official Jerusalem residence] do to scrape more votes from [Otzma Yehudit head Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Yamina candidate Betzalel] Smotrich, in a desperate attempt to ensure his immunity in the next Knesset?”
Unilateral annexation, the group adds, “is bad for Israeli diplomacy, defense and international standing” and “will bring us closer to an apartheid state.” Netanyahu, it says, “is willing to sell out all our futures, and send a message to Israel’s citizens, to the Palestinians, and to the whole world that his political survival means continued bloody conflict and the collapse of our democracy and any chance for peace.”
Netanyahu: I’ll immediately annex the Jordan Valley, if I get voters’ mandate
While he promises to annex all settlements after he’s re-elected, Netanyahu makes another one:
“One place that can have sovereignty immediately applied to it after the elections is the Jordan Valley. The next government will apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley.”
He then asks for Israelis’ votes.
“This is a democracy. I won’t do anything without a clear mandate. So I’m asking for a mandate, to do this thing that enjoys a broad consensus, to define at long last Israel’s permanent borders, promising that Judea and Samaria don’t turn into Gaza.
“This map defines our eastern frontier. We haven’t had this kind of opportunity since the [1967] Six Day War, and may not have it against for another 50 years.”
A map presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 10, 2019, showing areas of the Jordan Valley he promises to annex immediately after the September 17 elections. (Courtesy)
Netanyahu: I’ll annex West Bank settlements if re-elected
In a campaign pitch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to “apply Israeli sovereignty” — effectively annexing — to all the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
But he adds he’ll only take the step “after the elections,” out of respect for the Trump administration and its expected peace plan.
“I want from you a clear mandate to apply Israeli sovereignty to all the settlements,” he says.
Jordan Valley leader jumps the gun, thanks Netanyahu for annexation
A public relations company working for Jordan Valley Regional Council chair David Elhayani, Pe’er & Levin PR, may have jumped the gun on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected “dramatic” announcement this evening, releasing a statement quoting Elhayani lavishing praise on Netanyahu for apparently taking steps toward annexation of the Jordan Valley.
“After 11 years of serving [as council head], which were filled with fear for the future of the Valley, this is one of the most important and exciting moments I have experienced,” Elhayani is quoted as saying.
“I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the depths of my soul for transforming this time into a historic moment for Israel. Let us not forget how he stood strong in the face of the Obama administration’s pressure to surrender the Jordan Valley — and in his first opportunity, Netanyahu now shows his leadership, determination and courage as a statesman and true patriot, fulfillling the dream of the Valley’s residents, and of most of Israel’s citizens.”
He goes on: “To the cynics who say this was for the election, don’t worry about them.”
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