Hey, if you think you're special in Trumpland, you'll be disappointed every time.Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are blaming presidential adviser Jared Kushner for a delay in plans to immediately annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as envisioned in President Trump's peace plan.
Netanyahu appeared to acquiesce to U.S. pressure Tuesday, saying he would hold off on annexation action until a new government is formed after Israeli elections next month.
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David Elhayani, chairman of the powerful Yesha Council, which oversees more than 150 settlements, accus[ed] Kushner of betraying Netanyahu and not being honest with him.
WaPo
Somebody hasn't been paying attention.“Kushner took a knife and put it in Netanyahu’s back,” he told The Washington Post. “Kushner misled the prime minister. He misled everybody. He knew for a long time that Netanyahu wanted to declare sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea — he said it many times over the last year. Gentlemen just don’t act this way.”
It's what they do.Elhayani, who traveled to Washington last week for the plan’s White House unveiling, said that by putting the brakes on annexing the settlements, Kushner could cost Netanyahu the March 2 elections.
Israel is about to engage in an unprecedented third election in less than a year, with Netanyahu fighting bitterly for his political future, even as he faces three criminal indictments and possibly a public trial.
Hours after standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Trump at the White House on Jan. 28 as the plan was formally released, Netanyahu told reporters that he planned to bring a vote on annexation before his cabinet within days. At the same time, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman told reporters that the day and the timing was up to Israel.
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Elhayani and other settler leaders also met with a senior U.S. official in Washington who told them that if the Palestinians did not accept the plan within 48 hours, Israel would be allowed to declare sovereignty over 30 percent of the West Bank.
“But something happened after that; they changed their minds,” Elhayani said.
No, that's not what he wants. That's what he says after the Palestinians refused to even read the shit plan that he was stupid enough to think he could foist on them, and the Arab League rejected it out of hand. I wonder if he had some assurance from his Saudi pal MBS that they'd take care of the Palestinians, or if he is just that arrogant.Kushner, in interviews and reportedly in conversations with Israeli officials, put the brakes on, saying that the move should wait for a new government to be formed after next month’s vote.
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Kushner wants to give some breathing room for Arab, European and other governments to offer encouragement for negotiations under the plan, rather than giving those governments a reason to reject the plan right away, diplomats said.
I have to admit, nobody else has done such a good job of sticking it to Netanyahu, whether it was intentional or not. Well done, Jared, you backstabber.Arab states also passed warnings to U.S. officials that immediate Israeli annexation could spark violence and leave Arab governments less room to offer diplomatic accommodations to Israel that are a main goal of the U.S. plan, two regional diplomats said.
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Friedman, the U.S. ambassador, walked back his annexation comments last week, saying the measure would require coordination with a joint American-Israeli committee.
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A senior Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter in more depth, said that Netanyahu had briefed reporters in Washington that he would raise the annexation matter at the next Israeli cabinet meeting, but that so far no cabinet meeting has been held since his return Friday.
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On Tuesday, Netanyahu appeared to reverse last week’s position, telling supporters at an election campaign rally that he would only ask the government to approve annexation steps after the election.
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Calling for “sovereignty now,” settler leaders on Tuesday ramped up pressure on Netanyahu to move forward with annexing the Jordan Valley and the West Bank settlements, erecting several protest tents outside the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem.
