Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex key areas of the West Bank if he wins Israel’s general election on Tuesday.
Under the Israeli prime minister’s plans the Jordan Valley, the stretch of land along the western bank of the Jordan river that contains several settlements, would formally be declared part of Israel’s territory as early as next week.
It corresponds to roughly one-third of the wider West Bank, the territory that Palestinians claim as part of a future State of Palestine. It was occupied by Israel in 1967.
“Today, I announce my intention, after the establishment of a new government, to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea,” Mr Netanyahu said in a televised speech on Tuesday evening.
