Palestine News Network / January 5, 2020
A ministerial committee with the Israeli occupation is considering, today, Sunday, the annexation of the Jordan Valley, in its first meeting since its formation, despite warnings by the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, that the annexation statements could be among the investigations against Israeli officials involved in war crimes against the Palestinians.
And the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, admitted that there are legal difficulties in pushing such a step during the term of the transitional government.
Hebrew sources reported that the continuation of discussions in the committee aims to show that the idea of annexation has not yet been neglected by international pressure, and that the committee will be busy preparing to present a draft resolution to include the Jordan Valley when this is legally possible.
Committee members are working on a draft government resolution or bill that will be presented to the Knesset for “official annexation” of the Jordan Valley.
The committee is chaired by Ronen Peretz, director general of the Prime Minister’s Office, and its representatives include the ministries of foreign affairs and the army, and the so-called “National Security Council”.
And Netanyahu announced during a press conference a week before the previous Knesset elections, last September, that if he is re-elected, he will work to “impose Israeli sovereignty” over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea, and that he will work on that in coordination with the administration of the American President, Donald Trump.
Netanyahu pledged before the Knesset elections last April, to annex the settlement bloc “Gush Etzion” in the Bethlehem area, and Netanyahu continues to talk about the annexation now by announcing that he wants to form a government that includes “large areas” of the West Bank, and that “it is time to legitimize all settlements,” Located in the blocks and those outside.
The attorney general for the occupation government, Avihai Mandelblit, had warned Netanyahu and his government more than once that annexing the Jordan Valley would lead to the opening of an international criminal investigation against “Israel”.
