Trump to Make ‘Big Announcement’ on West Bank Annexations

A top White House adviser has revealed that US President Donald Trump will soon make a “big announcement” regarding Israel’s prospective annexation of parts of the West Bank. “Let’s just see [what happens] because he wants to be an agent for peace in the Middle East and he’s trying to do that,” Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Wednesday. She added that members of the administration were still discussing whether to back Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s vow to begin the process of applying Israeli law to areas of the Palestinian-claimed territory on July 1. Notably, Conway also addressed growing concerns over a possible backlash from regional countries. “‘[President Trump] moves the [US] Embassy to Jerusalem, the Arab world is going to disappear.’ Thank God that wasn’t true. There’s always this scare tactic… of all the bad that’s going to happen – and then it doesn’t happen,” she said. The US peace plan envisions Israel annexing up to 30% of the West Bank – which includes all 130-plus Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley – with the rest of the territory conditionally allocated for the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state.