The laconic statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in the afternoon hours of July 1 officially confirmed what had become abundantly clear in recent days: Israel’s annexation of lands in the West Bank would not begin on his target date and the fate of the historic move is unclear.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues discussions of the sovereignty issue with the Americans,” read the single-paragraph announcement. “At the same time, he held a discussion with the head of the National Security Council and top defense officials. … Additional discussions will take place in the coming days.”

If Netanyahu could have done so, he might have simply ignored the date he had been promoting for months as the starting date for Israel's annexation of the settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. However, his own hype and the hundreds of domestic and foreign journalists awaiting the highly touted development and flooding his spokespeople with questions forced him to make a statement.

Not only is the media on tenterhooks, so are Israel’s various security forces and agencies that have had to prepare for this date without knowing where the prime minister was leading them. Palestinian towns in the West Bank were also waiting on word from Jerusalem and many journalists staked out Palestinian Authority offices in Ramallah and Hebron to be close to the grand event that did not happen.