April 2020. Four days after the White House reiterated its resolve to pursue U.S. President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century,” Israel’s ongoing political turmoil ended on Monday with a coalition agreement that may doom prospects of Israelis and Palestinians ever returning to the negotiating table. The agreement between Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White bloc sets July 1 as the date when unilateral Israeli annexation of large chunks of West Bank territory, a significant element of the Trump plan, kicks in. If their joint government acts accordingly, the plan’s other features will be rendered irrelevant. This is happening despite 220 retired Israeli generals, admirals, and leaders from the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the police—members of Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS)—signing a full-page ad in Israeli newspapers on April 3 urging their erstwhile colleagues in government—namely Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, both of whom are former chiefs of staff of the Israel Defence Forces—to insist on blocking unilateral annexation of West Bank territory. A few days later, 149 prominent American Jewish leaders joined the Israel Policy Forum in a similar call, and soon thereafter, 11 members of the U.S. Congress issued another warning about the negative consequences of such a move.
Apr 2020. The Occupied West Bank
