Three of Israel’s most stalwart boosters among Democrats in Congress are warning the country against annexing parts of the West Bank.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Robert Menendez of New Jersey released a statement Friday saying they were “compelled to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to launch the process to annex parts of the West Bank on July 1.
The three senators are only the latest Democrats in Congress to warn Israel against the proposed annexation, but they may be the most significant, not only because Schumer leads the party but because they are often at the forefront of pro-Israel legislation.
Another 19 Democrats in the Senate sent a letter last month to Israel’s leadership saying annexation would “fray” ties with Democrats, and eight Democrats in the Senate separately issued their own statements or letters. Among them are senators who have been close to AIPAC, like Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Kamala Harris of California, whom Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, is considering as a running mate.
In total, that’s 30 of the 47 Democrats in the Senate who are warning Israel against annexation.
The most recent on Friday was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. She addressed her letter to President Donald Trump, whose peace plan released earlier this year gives Israel a green light to annex some settlements.
Gillibrand spells out in her letter what other Democrats have hinted: She is writing in part to give Netanyahu’s coalition partner, Benny Gantz, who has been ambivalent about annexation, a license to oppose the plan.
“I understand that the Israeli coalition agreement stipulates that annexation will only proceed under ‘full agreement with the United States’ and, in my capacity as a US senator, wanted to notify you that I must withhold my agreement at this time,” Gillibrand said.
Israeli security officials will finally be shown maps next week of West Bank territories Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to annex, according to a television report Friday.
Israel’s security forces have been mostly left in the dark about Netanyahu’s plans to extend sovereignty over West Bank lands designated for the Jewish state under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, hampering their ability to plan accordingly.
The maps that will be shown to military and other security agencies are the same ones Netanyahu presented to Defense Minister Benny Gantz this week, Channel 12 news reported.
The network said that under all four of the scenarios for annexation detailed in the maps, Israel would extend territory over most of the settlements and a total of anywhere from 12 to 30 percent of the West Bank. A television report Wednesday, by contrast, had said one of the options floated by Netanyahu would see Israel annex only a small part of the West Bank in a largely symbolic move.
In a separate report, Channel 13 news said IDF generals told Gantz during meetings this week they will need several weeks once a final decision on annexation is made to prepare security-wise. Quoting unnamed officials who took part in the meetings, the report said the preparations would include calling up reservists and deploying forces, among other measures.
The officials also said they would need several months to prepare the “civil” aspects of annexation, noting the potential legal complications of annexing any settlements built on private Palestinian land. Other possible complexities cited by the officials were having to alter the route of the West Bank security barrier and determining if Palestinians who own farmland in the Jordan Valley but live elsewhere will be able to access their lands.
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