Netanyahu undeterred on annexation
Israel's prime minister has dismissed the international outcry, counting on the US president and popular support at home.
Netanyahu: Annexation is ‘top task’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that he will not miss a “historic opportunity" to extend Israeli sovereignty over settlements in parts of the occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley, considering it a “top task” of the unity government.
The prime minister has dismissed or ignored calls by the European Union to hold off, as well as warnings by UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov that annexation would represent “a most serious violation of international law” and the League of Arab States that annexation would be considered a “new war crime.”
Netanyahu told Likud Knesset members that he is going ahead with a July date to introduce annexation legislation. He's confident he will win on what he considers his legacy issue because most Israelis and US President Donald Trump appear to be in his corner.
