Benjamin Netanyahu Vows To Annex West Bank’s Jordan Valley If Voted Back To Power

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a deeply controversial pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected in 17 September polls.

“There is one place where we can apply Israeli sovereignty immediately after the elections,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech reported AFP .

“If I receive from you, citizens of Israel, a clear mandate to do so … today I announce my intention to apply with the formation of the next government Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea.”

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The prime minister also reiterated his intention to annex Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank if re-elected, though in coordination with United States President Donald Trump, whose long-awaited peace plan is expected to be unveiled sometime after the vote.

Those moves could effectively kill any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long the focus of international diplomacy.

The Jordan Valley accounts for around one-third of the West Bank and Israeli right-wing politicians have long viewed the strategic area as a part of the territory they would never retreat from.