Benjamin Netanyahu Vows to Annex Jordan Valley, Arabs Condemns the Announcement

Jerusalem: After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if he is voted back to office next week, Arab nations sharply criticised the announcement. Netanyahu said he would apply “Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea,” the BBC reported. Such a move would be popular with right-wing parties which he would have to depend on to form a coalition but fiercely opposed by Palestinians.

Arab nations, including officials in Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have heavily condemned Netanyahu’s annexation plans. The Arab League denounced “the dangerous development” as “aggression”. Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat said such a move would be a “war crime” that would “bury any chance of peace”.

Israel occupied the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights, in the 1967 Middle East war. It effectively annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, and the Golan Heights in 1981, although neither move was accepted internationally for decades. The Donald Trump administration has since recognised both steps, overturning previous US policy. (IANS)

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