American and Israeli Administrations Clarify Annexation Process

In what appears to be part-walk-back, part clarification, and partly a rare difference between the American and Israeli administrations, American Ambassador to the state of Israel David Friedman has apparently contradicted a statement regarding the annexation of land conquered in the 1967 war made by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at a campaign rally on Saturday night. Tempers in the region flared when after a White House ceremony unveiling the diplomatic/administrative side of the long-awaited Trump “vision” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Friedman remarked that Israel could immediately begin to annex communities located on post-1967 land only to be contradicted by presidential adviser and chief of the peace proposal team Jared Kushner who said nothing should happen before Israel hold its third try at electing a government on March 2. On Saturday night, Netanyahu assured a campaign rally that the process is well under way – “at the height of the process” — affirming that it “won’t take long.” But on Sunday, Friedman tweeted that the annexation process will come as part of a mapping process to be carried out by a joint American-Israeli team. “As we have stated, the application of Israeli law to the territory which the plan provides to be part of Israel is subject to the completion a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee, and any unilateral action in advance of the completion of the committee process endangers the plan and American recognition.” International blowback against annexation has been intense, and often noting the conspicuous absence of the Palestinians from the deliberations.  Although 53-years have passed since the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip came under Israeli control, only Jerusalem has been formally joined to the pre-1967 state, largely because of the extreme sensitivity of the issue vis-à-vis the Arab world and international diplomacy. But since taking office, President Trump has instituted several measures he asserts are merely based upon pragmatic recognition of the realities in the region including a declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, also declared to be its capital.