Policy makers and diplomats in Washington are increasingly warning that the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank, backed by the US, would spark a crisis and damage the possibility of a two-state solution.
With Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 1 start date fast approaching, multiple stakeholders in the conflict have pleaded with the Trump administration and members of Congress this week to oppose Netanyahu’s vow to extend Israeli sovereignty to the settlements and the Jordan Valley.
On Monday, Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States Dina Kawar joined other officials from Amman in warning that the Hashemite Kingdom would re-evaluate its 1990s-era peace agreement with Israel if it were to go through with annexation.
“When we signed the treaty in 1994, the euphoria of peace, the trust that was existing then — the idea of this cooperation, between the Jordanians, the Palestinians, and Israel — it was some beautiful dream that we had then,” Kawar told the American Jewish Committee during a Zoom teleconference.
“And now, when you look [at] where we’re going, I ask myself, What for? Is it something that the Israelis want going toward this eventual situation? Is it something that we can impose on the Palestinians? And is it something that’s safe for us as Jordanians?”
Under a coalition deal between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Israel’s government can pursue annexation backed by the US starting July 1. The Trump administration has indicated it will not oppose Israeli moves to annex lands that would become part of the country under its peace plan, which envisions a Palestinian state on some 70 percent of the West Bank, pocked with Israel settlement panhandles and enclaves.
The plan has been met with vociferous opposition in Europe, some of the Arab world and domestically, with warnings that it could add to instability in the region, lead to further international isolation of Israel and damage Israel’s democratic character.
The World Council of Churches is asking European diplomats to punish Israel with sanctions if it annexes West Bank lands. The request has triggered a heated debate in Christian circles.
The call to punish Israel came last month in a letter to EU foreign ministers from the Geneva headquarters of the council, an umbrella body established in 1948 that now has 350 member churches with about 500,000 followers among them. The Catholic Church is not a member.
If Israel annexes land, the letter said, “the EU must surely suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement,” a reference to a 1995 contract that promotes trade between the bloc and the Jewish state. In addition, the EU should apply sanctions on Israel “at least commensurate with those adopted by the EU in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.”
“The unilateral annexation of yet more of the territory that remains to Palestinians cannot lead to justice or to peace, but only to greater injustice,” the church body wrote.
In recent years, the council has been accused of pursuing an anti-Israel agenda, a claim rejected by its leaders.
In 2019, it emerged that the council had gathered information for years on the Israeli army’s actions in land that the council and international community regards as occupied, with activists masquerading as tourists.
No comments:
Post a Comment