Dedicated Zionists from Robert Satloff to Martin Indyk to Dennis Ross say annexation threatens the future of the Jewish state because it will alienate Europe and the Democratic Party; but AIPAC, the leading Israel lobby org, says not a word, foretelling a chaotic scramble for power inside the Israel lobby, with J Street and youth groups gaining ascendancy.
Trump wants Israel “to move forward with annexation to create a wedge issue visavis Joe Biden and the Democratic Party [to have] a hard political tool to use against Democrats in a very tight election. We all remember last summer the brouhaha that Trump created over the potential visit of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to Israel and accusing the Democratic Party of being leftwing radicals,” Israeli journalist Neri Zilber tells J Street webinar.
There has been remarkable news in the last few days: much of the Israel lobby in the United States is in open revolt against the Israeli government to try and stop annexation of the West Bank.
Why is Trump lying down for Israeli annexation of West Bank even as global chorus condemns it? He needs what could be $200 million from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson for election. He has delivered for the largest Republican donors again and again, from moving embassy, to tearing up Iran deal, to attacking the ICC.
Israel is about to jeopardize its support in the Democratic Party by annexing parts of West Bank, but Netanyahu is going ahead evidently with Trump’s blessing. And a fire set by the Israeli military in Jordan Valley last week shows the plan to confiscate more Palestinian land, says journalist Alex Fishman of Ynet on call with Israel Policy Forum.
U.S. liberals opposed to annexation use Israel-centric and racist arguments, that it will hurt Israel or threaten a Jewish majority, Jim Zogby explains.
Vermont Senator, and former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders addressed a Tel Aviv protest opposing the Israeli government’s plan to annex parts of the Jordan Valley and West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are facing pushback over plans to annex large swaths of the occupied West Bank as early as next month, with Israeli and Palestinian protestors taking to the streets to voice their opposition to the plans over the weekend.
Justin Trudeau has floundered in Canada’s response to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank. Perhaps it’s because he wants a seat on the security council.
In a statement launched today, tens of Palestinian civil society organizations, professional associations, unions, human rights and advocacy groups, and networks, representing an overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society, called on governments to adopt “effective countermeasures, including sanctions” to “stop Israel’s illegal annexation of the Occupied West Bank and grave violations of human rights.”