The “application of sovereignty” is a euphemism for the unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank. This move would thoroughly upset the current state of affairs and change the rules of the game in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that Israel is now presented with what is perhaps a one-time opportunity to change the reality in the conflict arena: “Until today, Israel has always been the one that had to concede, to give, to freeze, and to withdraw…Now President Trump has said that it is...
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reacted to the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the swearing-in of the new government regarding the intention to annex territory in the West Bank with a declaration of disengagement from all agreements between the PLO and Israel and the United States, including the Oslo Accords and other subsequent agreements. The instruction to halt security coordination with Israel was given to the Palestinian working echelons, but was accompanied by a directive, also from...
The IDF withdrawal from Lebanon 20 years ago and the renewed deployment along the UN-recognized international border was a unilateral move by Israel, welcomed by the international community. By contrast, the application of Israeli sovereignty over territory in the West Bank, also a unilateral move, will be the annexation of disputed territory between Israel and the Palestinians, and there is a broad consensus among leading international elements of its illegality. Three critical parameters of Israel’s exit from Lebanon may shed light...
This article highlights the need for the Palestinian leadership to make a counterproposal or present the reasons why it objects to President Trump’s peace vision, which was unveiled in January 2020. Even the most vehement Palestinian rejection of the plan may not stop the implementation of certain aspects of the vision – such as the possible annexation of the Jordan Valley, all Israeli settlements, and other parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the Palestinians, represented by the...
The Palestinian Authority’s efficient and rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak underscored the Gordian knot tying it to Israel in matters of geography, economy, civilian affairs, security, and health. Israel’s new government would do well to recognize this, and consider the PA’s stable and effective performance as a critical component of Israeli national security. The ability of the PA to advance economic growth in the West Bank is a central component of this Israeli interest.
While most of the Israeli public debate around the subject of applying sovereignty in the West Bank has focused on the impact on relations with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, Israel should also consider the consequences of this move for its relations with Egypt. Egypt tended to interpret Israeli declarations on the subject of unilateral annexation as election “spin,” but since the signing of the coalition agreement between the Likud and Blue and White, the attitude in Cairo has changed, and it has begun taking action to...
Israel’s new government will have to review the validity of many ideas within the Israeli consensus that have guided foreign policy over the past two decades. Key questions concern the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; relations between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, particularly in the area of energy and in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; relations with the United States, including the implications of the competition between China and the US; relations with the European Union; and relations with...
The global, regional, and internal implications of the coronavirus are still not fully clear, but Israel’s 35th government will have no 100-day grace period. It must quickly restore the economy to full activity, despite the presence of the virus and the possibility of a renewed outbreak. On the security level, all the regimes in the Middle East are busy with the pandemic and internal affairs, and will most likely seek to avoid escalation in conflicts with Israel. At the same time, the risk of unplanned escalation (in Syria,...
East Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods are liable to become morbidity hotspots for the coronavirus pandemic, notably during the month of Ramadan, posing a contagion risk to the city as a whole. In light of this danger, and given the underlying neglect in the city’s eastern neighborhoods, Israeli authorities have addressed the pandemic there, albeit incurring friction with Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives – mainly in Kafr ‘Aqab, which is outside the security barrier. Lags in tackling the coronavirus pandemic in the...
This article focuses on the idea, if not the intention, to maximize what is perceived as a window of opportunity to advance the application of Israeli sovereignty to the territories in the West Bank. For an interest group that aspires to this goal, and especially for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there is a sense that under the current circumstances, Israel has an unprecedented opportunity that it will not have again in the near future to apply Israeli sovereignty to settlement areas. This window of opportunity has emerged in...
Out of fears of a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza as well as a desire to strengthen public trust in the organization and demonstrate its control over the situation, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has proposed an initiative to release prisoners. The initiative led to indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, which may foster a wider arrangement. Israel should not make concessions solely for information on its citizens and the bodies of its soldiers being held in Gaza, but strive to bring them back while also working to...
The Gaza Strip has been in an ongoing crisis since the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, especially since Hamas took over the territory by force. The situation in Gaza is characterized by economic, social, and infrastructural distress—verging on a humanitarian crisis—and influenced by the political rivalry and struggle for leadership of the Palestinian camp between Hamas on one hand, and Fatah and the Palestinian Authority on the other. Hamas’s inability to provide for the needs of Gaza’s population serves as a motivating...
