Middle East Monitor / April 20, 2020
The European Union has warned Israel’s Benny Gantz not to accept the annexation of the country’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, Quds Press reported on Sunday.
EU officials have apparently told Gantz’s foreign affairs adviser, Melody Sucharewicz, over the past few weeks that Europe strongly opposes any unilateral move to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
The officials also told Sucharewicz that any such move would have serious implications for Israel-EU relations.
Gantz has made several comments regarding the annexation of the illegal settlements, and could possibly agree with the move, which could happen if he agrees to be part of a coalition government with Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The EU diplomats were told by Sucharewicz that Gantz has been forced to compromise his views on annexation. She claimed that the erstwhile leader of the Blue and White bloc would try to turn down such a plan if he does join a coalition government.
