Israel’s Cabinet delays annexation vote

A senior Israeli official said Wednesday that an expected Cabinet vote to annex parts of the West Bank will not take place on Sunday as planned.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin told Israel Radio that the vote was not possible due to necessary preparations, including “bringing the proposal before the attorney general and letting him consider the matter,” according to The Associated Press. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set up the Sunday vote, which if approved would have endorsed the annexation of about 30 percent of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, shortly after President Trump rolled out his Middle East peace plan on Tuesday. 

The vote would follow the parameters of Trump’s proposal, which would allow Israel to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley, which sits at the border between Jordan and the West Bank. Palestinians would be granted a “demilitarized” state that would cover roughly 70 percent of the West Bank plus the Gaza Strip in exchange for those and other territorial concessions. 

The plan proposes steeper cuts into Palestinian territory than most other peace plans offered in the past, sparking a swift rejection from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand noes to the Deal of The Century,” Abbas said at a press conference in the West Bank.

While Trump’s plan would be a possible framework for future peace talks, the administration said Israel could proceed with annexation before negotiations are held over the plan.

“Israel does not have to wait at all,” U.S. Ambassador David Friedman said on a conference call with reporters. “The waiting period would be the time it takes to obtain internal approvals and create the documentation.” 

Right-wing politicians in Israel have long advocated for annexing settlements in the West Bank and warned against a delay in the vote. 

“If we postpone or reduce the extension of sovereignty [in the West Bank], then the opportunity of the century will turn into the loss of the century,” tweeted Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, according to a translation by the AP.