Netanyahu promises to extend Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank

ISRAEL: Three days before Israeli general elections, Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu

, which is played in the urns of its continuity, said in a televised interview that, if he won, he could annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

In an interview with Channel 12 television, he explains why he did not order the annexation of the Maale Adumim colony (near Jerusalem) and the Gush Etzion settlement bloc (between Jerusalem and Bethlehem) during his ten years as head of government, Netanyahu He replied: "Who said I will not do it?"

Noting that this had prompted the United States to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967, he said: "We will continue with the next phase, yes, I will not. will extend sovereignty, "he promised.

He also pointed out that for him, there was no difference between isolated settlements and settlement blocks. "I do not distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements, because each settlement is Israeli, and I will not give it up to Palestinian sovereignty," he said.

For the international community, both are illegal (the United States calls them "illegitimate") and threaten the realization of a two-state solution that involves the creation of a Palestinian state. independent and would require the evacuation of thousands of settlers from the occupied territory,
or his stay in the new Palestinian state.

"A Palestinian state would endanger our existence, I have been under tremendous pressure over the last eight years, no Prime Minister has suffered so much pressure, we must control our destiny", he said, probably evoking the international consensus on the two-state solution.

The Arab minority in elections

At the same time, representatives of the Arab minority – 20% of the Israeli population – announced that this group would debate the opportunity to go to the polls on Tuesday to elect the 120 members of Parliament from which the Prime Minister will be elected. Minister.

In addition, in this faction, there is deep uncertainty in the background, related to the dilemma of ignoring the vote or, conversely, to seize this opportunity to impede the advancement of the Jewish nationalist right, said the sources of the sector. .

For the moment, according to a survey conducted by the organization "Abraham Initiatives" and by the Yaffa Public Research Institute, only one in two people is willing to vote.

Due to internal rivalries, this year two major lists vie for support from the Arab electorate: the Hadash Communists as well as the independent Taal and Balad-Raam list, an electoral badociation composed of nationalists and Islamists.

According to a poll, more Arab votes will go to Benny Gantz's centrist party Blu-Bianco and the left-wing Zionist party Meretz.

ANSA Agency