Israel has informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that its plan to annex parts of the West Bank will not include the Jordan Valley, the N12 news outlet reported Friday.
An unnamed senior Palestinian official in Ramallah said that the message was sent through Jordan following an apparent meeting in Amman between Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and King Abdullah II.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlining plans to annex the Jordan Valley last year
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
Instead, the annexation will be limited to two or three settlement blocs, although it is unclear which.
N12 suggested that Gush Etzion, a cluster of settlements just south of Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, four miles from the capital, would be included in the move.
Jordan, one of only two Arab nations with a peace deal with Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. partner in the Mideast, have come out against annexation and warned of severe consequences for the region if Netanyahu goes ahead.
The European Union has voiced strong opposition and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he hopes Israel will not proceed.
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Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu meeting in Jerusalem in
(Photo: Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Jerusalem)
Meanwhile, pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to press pause on the sovereignty initiative.
The request, Al-Hayat said, was sparked by concerns that the move would negatively impact Israel’s warming ties with Gulf states.
Trump’s top national security aides were unable to reach a decision Thursday on whether to support the Israeli plan, an impasse that could affect the timing of any action by Netanyahu.
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An Israeli flag flutters near houses in the West Bank settlement of Otniel
(Photo: Reuters)
A senior administration official said the White House meetings had been “productive” but added that “there is yet no final decision on the next steps for implementing the Trump plan.”
The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the official, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and special envoy for Mideast peace Avi Berkowitz were heading to Israel on Thursday for further discussions.