Two former military chiefs, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, hold the key to Israeli annexation of West Bank lands. The two have managed to position themselves in Washington as crucial to any decision on the annexation plan. Taking advantage of the leadership's preoccupation with the novel coronavirus and police brutality crises, they have managed to reach an understanding with the Donald Trump administration according to which President Donald Trump will support any Israeli decision on annexation as long as it enjoys the full backing of both government parties — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz and Ashkenazi’s Blue and White.

The two Blue and White leaders enjoy direct access to close Trump associates such as his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz, who replaced Jason Greenblatt as the special US envoy to the Mideast. Presumably, one of the two informed Gantz and Ashkenazi that the Americans would support any decision Israel makes as long as Blue and White does, too. As an associate of Blue and White leaders put it to Al-Monitor this week on condition of anonymity, “We have received veto power; we are not sure we will use it.”

Gantz and Ashkenazi seem torn. Gantz met on June 10 with settlement leaders. It could have been a tense, loud meeting, with battle lines drawn between settler leaders demanding full Israeli sovereignty over their settlements in the West Bank and the man representing opposition to such a move. In fact, the tone was low key. Gantz appeared to suggest he was seriously considering support for annexation, albeit not of all the territory the settlers want. Gantz is hard to read. Not all his hints and mumblings translate into actions. This weekend he will get together with Ashkenazi to come up with a coherent position ahead of scheduled discussions with Netanyahu next week.

At the same time, the heads of Israel’s security agencies — IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Mossad head Yossi Cohen, Shin Bet director Nadav Argaman and Military Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Tamir Heyman — will brief the security cabinet on the potential repercussions of annexation. A decision will follow these deliberations but even then, Trump’s wishes may not be clear, as he is even harder to gauge than Gantz. According to indications from Washington, Trump’s Christian evangelical base is currently less concerned with the annexation issue. The domestic unrest, economic crisis, rioting and upcoming elections are all sidelining Israel and its issues and placing the entire move in question.