Gantz-Netanyahu deal legitimizes annexation

The new “emergency government” appears to have given life to the Trump administration’s almost forgotten peace plan for the Middle East, which includes the annexation of Palestinian occupied lands in exchange for a weak Palestinian entity with some land swaps in the Negev desert.

The newly signed agreement refers specifically to the Trump plan, saying, “In reference to the declaration of President Trump, the prime minister and alternate prime minister will act with the full consent of the United States, including in the matter of maps vis a vis the Americans and in international dialogue on the matter, all while pursuing to preserve the security and strategic interests of the state of Israel, including the need to keep regional stability, keep existing peace agreements and pursue future peace agreements,” according to an unofficial translation of items 28 and 29 in the plan obtained by Al-Monitor.

Aaron David Miller, who was a top adviser on Middle East peace in past Democratic and Republican administrations, told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu has avoided acting on annexation these many years. “This [governing] agreement was driven not by the Palestinian issue, but by his determination to defend himself while on trial as prime minister. That’s his main priority now. He will push it to see what’s possible — and some of it may be possible. But he won’t let it jeopardize the current arrangement,” Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

The head of the Arab Joint List, which had recommended Gantz to become prime minister, expressed disappointment and frustration, calling the deal a “slap in the face” to the majority of Israelis. “Gantz and Netanyahu’s government of surrender is a slap in the face of the civilian majority who go to the polls time and time again to oust Netanyahu. Gantz was not courageous enough to triumph and chose to legitimize annexation, racism and corruption,” Ayman Odeh tweeted in Hebrew. The list has 15 members in the Knesset.

Political analysts saw in the wording of the Gantz-Netanyahu deal a loophole that could prevent the possibility of annexation provided Arabs are united. 

Fadi Elsalameen, a Palestinian American academic at Johns Hopkins University, told Al-Monitor that both Egypt and Jordan, which have signed peace deals with Israel, could threaten to end those pacts if the annexation is carried out. He said, “For Jordan, it threatens its national security as it implies Palestinians should seek statehood in Jordan instead of a future Palestinian state. There is an opportunity for Jordan and Egypt to work closely with the Palestinians to coordinate an international refusal of annexation.”

The annexation threat could be a perfect opportunity to Palestinians to unite and make sure that the Arab world is also united in refusing the taking of Palestinian occupied territories and the destruction of the little that is left of the possibility of a negotiated peace agreement.