Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White Chair Benny Gantz are trying to cobble together a unity government that provides each of the political rivals with veto power over almost every substantive decision or important appointment for the next three years. Gantz, however, gave in to Netanyahu on one particular issue: the prerogative of bringing to a vote, as of July 1, a proposal to annex parts of the West Bank or otherwise impose Israeli sovereignty over all the Jewish settlements there. It is the only issue over which Gantz and his party will have no veto power, and it is one that risks regional conflagration.

The prospects of establishing a power-sharing government remain unclear given the complex legislation required to make it happen and the petitions submitted to the Supreme Court challenging the deal. One thing, however, is clear: July 1 is shaping up to be one of the most significant and potentially dangerous dates for the future government as well as for the region.

In response to harsh criticism from the political left over the issue of annexation, Gantz’s no. 2, Lt. Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi, argues that Netanyahu at this moment has a Knesset majority to annex West Bank lands. “He does not need us to do so,” he told Al-Monitor. Ashkenazi also noted that each side in the government would have the same number of ministers and equal authority. “[This] will allow us to try and block the decision from within,” he continued. “Gantz and myself, slated as defense minister and foreign minister, will be members of the Security Cabinet. We will be in touch with the international community, with the Americans, with the states of the region. Netanyahu is a very experienced man, and we will help him understand the tremendous risks that lie in declaring unilateral annexation. We will also hold in-depth discussions of this issue in all relevant forums. If there is a way to block this process, we will find it.”

A group calling itself Commanders for Israel’s Security, comprised of hundreds of senior former army officers and security agency officials, have published major ads urging the government to forgo unilateral annexation. On April 23, Foreign Policy magazine ran an editorial by three members of the forum, among them former heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet, headlined “Netanyahu’s Annexation Plan Is a Threat to Israel’s National Security.” While ads and op-eds will not prevent annexation, discourse in the US media could be an important factor in the campaign to scuttle such a move.