Annexation talk another hurdle for peace

Opinion

April 9, 2019 - 10:04 AM

There is plenty of blame to go around for the sabotaging of the once-promising Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the subversion of the much-maligned two-state solution, but surely Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves an inordinate share of it.

For nearly 25 years _ or more, depending when you start counting _ he has consistently fought to derail the process, calling it a “mortal threat” to Israel, assuring Israelis and the world that there is no trustworthy Palestinian partner to negotiate with and slow-walking the negotiations where possible.

Now, on the eve of the Israeli elections he hopes will propel him to a fifth term in office and make him the country’s longest serving prime minister, Netanyahu has threatened a further blow to the moribund peace process: He said Saturday that if reelected, he would see to it that Israel begins to annex portions of the West Bank, the Palestinian territory it seized and occupied during the Six-Day War in 1967 (along with the Gaza Strip), and which has been at the core of the conflict with the Palestinians ever since.

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