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Settlers argue over Netanyahu’s annexation plan

Much to everyone’s surprise, there is growing opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annexation plan among the settlers’ leadership.
A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Annexation, or the act imposing Israeli sovereignty and law on about one-third of the West Bank [Jewish settlements], would be the ultimate fulfilment of a dream for the settlers and the ideological right. Fifty-three years have passed since the 1967 Six-Day War and the founding of the first settlement — Kfar Etzion — which was reestablished after being destroyed during the 1948 War of Independence.

With an especially friendly American president, Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing ahead with his annexation plan. It is expected to be brought before the government for approval July 1, once the precise mapping of the area is completed and after advanced talks with the US administration about all its details. The problem is that during the last few days, there have been some bumps along the road in dealing with the administration. These include differences of opinion regarding the exact mapping of the settlement lands.  

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