Israel Delays West Bank Annexation, No Announcement Imminent

US says July 1 was 'never a deadline'

July 1 came and went in Israel, and despite it long being presented as the day of annexation of the West Bank, nothing happened. Officials say the process is effectively delayed, and nothing is imminent. Aides to Prime Minister Netanyahu said that there are delays, but didn’t say how long.

The US, who didn’t want to deal with the fallout, had pushed for a delay, and officials say the US never considered July 1 a “deadline” for Israel to annex Palestine. Seemingly the US is still okay with annexation in the long run. New Israel-US talks are planned.

After making July 1 the announcement date, Israel made no real progress on maps, or details, and international concern was enough to make sure no final move was taken. The US has urged Israel to avoid totally ruling out Palestinian statehood, and Israeli settlers have insisted ruling out Palestinian statehood is a must.

Instead, there will just be a delay, and with the plans complicated by the Israel political environment, and the US wanting to present the peace plan as not completely dead yet, this might be a long delay.



Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.