Netanyahu edges back to reality as support for annexation wanes
After warnings by the US administration that he needs to have Blue and White on board with his plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may settle for a limited, symbolic annexation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Likud faction on June 15 that he wanted to bring an annexation plan for approval in the near future, but the map still isn’t ready. The ministers took the declaration silently. No one mentioned that only recently, a confident Netanyahu had proclaimed that there have been no changes to the annexation program, that the target date of July 1 remains set as determined in the coalition agreement between Likud and Blue and White.
Netanyahu is the supreme leader. If he wills it, he can shelve the same program that turned him into a great leader of the right wing six months ago.
Netanyahu ostensibly has the Knesset majority he needs for full annexation. The Yamina faction, and evidently Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu as well, will support the initiative from the outside. So what gave him cold feet? Why is he allowing the annexation drive to cool?
One doesn’t have to be an expert on Netanyahu and his map of interests to realize that not much will happen on July 1. Two weeks out, Netanyahu is preparing to explain the delay on his plan to annex all West Bank and Jordan Valley settlements. He's also already identifying who is to blame for the delay: Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.
