Gantz says annexation target-date July 1 'not sacred'

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has suggested that the July 1 target to begin the process of annexing portions of the West Bank was “not set in stone”, the Israeli media has reported.

Mr Gantz, who also serves as Alternate Prime Minister, is reported to have made the remarks in a meeting to discuss the proposed annexation with American ambassador David Friedman and White House special envoy Avi Berkowitz.

The Blue and White leader is understood to have said that combatting Israel’s resurgent coronavirus outbreak and stabilising the economy were greater priorities than kickstarting the annexation process.

According to Haaretz  Mr Gantz said that July 1 was “not a sacred date” and that “people must be returned to their jobs and the coronavirus must be dealt with”.

The much-touted July 1 date is the earliest that discussions on annexation in the Knesset can begin.  

Blue and White sources also told Ynet that Mr Gantz had said that “before making any political moves, we need to help the public to get back to earning a living with dignity.”

On Sunday, the Israeli government extended emergency unemployment benefits until mid-August, as the country’s unemployment rate hit a record 27 per cent.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Mr Gantz outlined a number of parameters for “diplomatic moves made by Israel”.

Mr Gantz wrote that he would not support the application of Israeli law to areas with “many Palestinians or in cases where we would harm their mobility” and that Palestinians in areas where Israeli law is applied would “have equal rights”.  

“Preliminary diplomatic and security groundwork will ensure that we do not harm the security of the state, peace agreements and our strategic assets,” he added.

Annexations form part of January’s Trump plan, which envisages Israel annexing large portions of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements, with a view to creating a Palestinian state at an undefined point in the future.

Detailed plans as to what the Israeli government is intending have yet to be released, but initial expectations that Israeli sovereignty would be applied to the Jordan Valley and all 132 Jewish settlements appear to have been rolled back in favour of a smaller number of key settlement blocs.   

Mr Gantz’s remarks cast doubt on the degree of unanimity within the Israeli government on annexation and US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

It is believed that Washington’s initially enthusiastic support for Israeli annexations in the West Bank, as part of the Trump plan, has been tempered by fears that unilateral steps would harm President Donald Trump’s flagging re-election bid.