Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

brooklynite

(94,553 posts)
Sat Apr 6, 2019, 08:12 PM Apr 2019

Netanyahu Vows to Start Annexing West Bank, in Bid to Rally the Right

Source: New York Times

JERUSALEM — Struggling to rally right-wing voters before Tuesday’s elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he would start to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank if given a fourth consecutive term.

Such a move has been ardently sought by the settler movement but resisted until now by Mr. Netanyahu, and by more moderate Israelis, as a potentially fatal blow to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the eyes of most of the world, it would also be a violation of international law that bars the annexation of land seized in war.

But Mr. Netanyahu trailed his main challenger, Benny Gantz, a former army chief of staff, in final polls of the campaign published Friday. And he has been frantically trying to mobilize conservative Israelis to vote for his Likud party rather than for other, more extremist parties whose leaders have joined his government but have often portrayed him as more of a brake on the settler movement than an accelerator.

Mr. Netanyahu was pressed in a live television interview Saturday night over why he had not already annexed settlement blocs like Maale Adumim and Gush Etzion, two large Jewish communities built on occupied territory on the outskirts of Jerusalem. He vowed to begin the effective annexation of those and other, more isolated areas under Jewish control.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/world/middleeast/netanyahu-annex-west-bank.html



I love the smell of desperation in the morning.
17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Netanyahu Vows to Start Annexing West Bank, in Bid to Rally the Right (Original Post) brooklynite Apr 2019 OP
Don't count him out until he is gone. He is a survivor. marylandblue Apr 2019 #1
Russia if you're listening... ck4829 Apr 2019 #2
Sickness fascisthunter Apr 2019 #3
Saddam-a-yahu sandensea Apr 2019 #4
How Trumpian of hime Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Apr 2019 #5
Asshole. Wasn't he indicted? Come on, Israel. You can do better. catbyte Apr 2019 #6
So can we The Mouth Apr 2019 #8
Isn't he a convicted Scarsdale Apr 2019 #12
That guy is a pos rockfordfile Apr 2019 #7
Netanyahu has got to go. Putin has got to go. Trump definitely has got to go. YOHABLO Apr 2019 #9
I'm not against war, but we have to declare war on Putin. Initech Apr 2019 #11
I hereby wash my hands of Israel so long as Bibi reigns ProudLib72 Apr 2019 #10
Okay atreides1 Apr 2019 #13
Not exactly what he's proposing... brooklynite Apr 2019 #14
there are quite a few israeli arabs in the settlements Mosby Apr 2019 #15
Israel is going to keep chipping away gradually Blue_Tires Apr 2019 #16
The wrong Netanyahu died at Entebbe. Aristus Apr 2019 #17

marylandblue

(12,344 posts)
1. Don't count him out until he is gone. He is a survivor.
Sat Apr 6, 2019, 08:18 PM
Apr 2019

Last edited Sat Apr 6, 2019, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Last time he was losing in the polls, he pandered to the hard right and won.

sandensea

(21,635 posts)
4. Saddam-a-yahu
Sat Apr 6, 2019, 09:05 PM
Apr 2019

Except, of course, this one doesn't have to worry about any Desert Storm pushing him back from illegally occupied land.

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
12. Isn't he a convicted
Sun Apr 7, 2019, 07:18 AM
Apr 2019

crook? Does this mean Israel is lowering their standards to a level the US has, to keep a "sub-par" leader in office? Have they not seen what is happening to the US under a crook? Of course, tRump has the entire crooked gop party propping him up. I hope to live to see the day when tRump, his entire family and the gop all regret ever having him waddle onto the national stage. Rip off all the covers, show him for the slimebag he is.

atreides1

(16,079 posts)
13. Okay
Mon Apr 8, 2019, 09:42 AM
Apr 2019

If he follows through, what exactly happens to the 3 million Palestinian Arabs currently living in the West Bank?

Does the Israeli government forcefully remove them and place them in Gaza, or just ships them out to the desert and leaves them stranded?

Perhaps the Israeli government will just kill any Palestinian that refuses to leave what has been home for decades, if not centuries!

Are the Israelis willing to use the same methods that were used on European Jews, to remove them?

Will those who were oppressed become as evil as those who once oppressed them?

Lots of questions...and no answers, yet!!!

brooklynite

(94,553 posts)
14. Not exactly what he's proposing...
Mon Apr 8, 2019, 09:50 AM
Apr 2019

He's planning to claim that the Israeli settlements already in the West Bank (which, obviously, don't have any Palestinians in them) are now part of Israeli territory. They already are effectively (fenced off from Palestinian territory and linked by road to the rest of Israel. It's a matter of legal status.

Mosby

(16,311 posts)
15. there are quite a few israeli arabs in the settlements
Mon Apr 8, 2019, 10:30 AM
Apr 2019

Last edited Mon Apr 8, 2019, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Especially in the north.

The large majority of settlers are there for economic reasons, not religious ones.

The price for real estate is nuts in Israel, the houses and Apts being built in the WB have helped stem the rising costs by offering somewhat affordable housing.

Eta https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-settlements/leave-or-let-live-arabs-move-in-to-jewish-settlements-idUSKBN0JL0D620141207

Aristus

(66,352 posts)
17. The wrong Netanyahu died at Entebbe.
Mon Apr 8, 2019, 10:50 AM
Apr 2019

If Jonathan Netanyahu were still alive, I wonder what he would be like?

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Netanyahu Vows to Start A...