6 Reasons Netanyahu Failed the Annexation Plan

By: Mohammad Ali.T

Netanyahu plans to annex the West Bank on July 1, according to which 30 percent of the West Bank (Jordan Valley with areas including Zionist settlements) will be annexed to the occupied territories. This region, which starts from the northern border of the West Bank with Jordan and extends to the shores of the Dead Sea, is a very important and strategic region and has water resources, agricultural lands, sensitive security and military sites.

There are also currently 65,000 Palestinians living in these areas. If implemented, the historic city of Jericho, with a population of 2.7 million, will be completely isolated and will have no geographical connection to the Palestinian territories. Also, Holy Quds will be almost completely separated from the Palestinian territories and besieged if the annexation plan is implemented due to the location of the Zionist settlements around it.

Despite all the support by Washington, Netanyahu failed to implement the plan.

The White House also decided to send a special envoy to occupied Palestine instead of following Netanyahu's plane plan, which has many consequences.

Hebrew sources, including Israeli Channel 12 television, announced yesterday that the plan to annex the West Bank would not be implemented as the Israeli prime minister had sought. Accordingly, the Israeli authorities have recently replaced the annexation plan with a much-modified plan, which does not mention the annexation of the Jordan Valley region, and only includes two to three Zionist settlements, including Ma'ala Adumim and Gush Atsaion. The contents of this new plan have also been informed by the authorities of Tel Aviv and the Jordanian authorities.

Why did Netanyahu's plan fail before implementation?

But here we intend to briefly mention the obstacles that led to the withdrawal of the Zionist regime from the implementation of the annexation plan of 30% of the West Bank;

In general, these barriers can be summarized in the following six factors;

1) Security - Military: One of the main obstacles to the plan for the annexation of the West Bank, which disappointed the Zionists, was the strong reaction of the Palestinian resistance groups. Resistance groups in Gaza stressed that they would react decisively if the annexation plan was implemented. On the other hand, the estimates of Tel Aviv security circles, including Shabak and the Israeli army, confirm that if this plan is implemented, there will be a new intifada in the West Bank and a new war in Gaza.

2) Economic: The Zionist regime is facing the worst economic crisis since the establishment of this regime. The corona crisis has seriously overshadowed the Zionist regime's economy, which is an open and foreign-dependent economy, and has caused it serious problems. The 7.1 percent drop in economic growth, the $ 13 billion damage and the massive unemployment of workers are just a few examples of this deplorable economic situation for the Zionists. Under these circumstances, the implementation of the plan to annex the West Bank could put new economic pressures on the Zionist regime, which will be very difficult to withstand.

3) Political: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the implementation of his accession plan on July 1 (July 11) in a situation where he could not reach a political consensus among his cabinet members to implement it. Benny Gantz, who formed a coalition with Netanyahu to form a new cabinet, was one of the main opponents of implementing the annexation plan in the way Netanyahu intended. These differences escalated to the point that US President Donald Trump also made the approval of the accession plan conditional on a political agreement within the Zionist regime's cabinet, which ultimately did not materialize.

4) Social: The area that Netanyahu is considering for annexation to the occupied territories is a region full of Zionist settlements. On the other hand, 65,000 Palestinians live in these areas. The implementation of the plan to annex the Zionist settlers makes it a legitimate goal for the Palestinians. On the other hand, Netanyahu's policies in recent years have met with opposition from the Zionist community, which has hampered his political movements.

5) Regional: The Zionist regime is in a fragile position on its northern front, the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance forces have become a security problem for the Zionists in recent years after the 33-day war, with the large concentration of their military forces. However, any insecurity inside the occupied Palestine, including the West Bank and Gaza, which is very likely to follow the annexation plan, will make the Zionist regime ignore the northern front and will pose numerous security risks to Tel Aviv.

6) International: In recent days, the United Nations and its Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, have taken a serious stance against the plan to annex the West Bank, calling it a clear violation of international law. Emphasizing the need not to implement the accession plan, the UN Secretary-General also called on the international community, including the European Union and the United States, to block the implementation of Netanyahu's plan. On the other hand, some European personalities and parliaments in recent days have taken a strong stance against the West Bank accession plan, calling it illegal. The important point is that in the eyes of the United Nations and some European countries, Zionist settlements in the West Bank region are built on occupied lands and their annexation is illegal and illegitimate. On the other hand, the White House, despite several days of negotiations and internal discussion on the accession plan, finally failed to reach a conclusion so that Netanyahu's plan could face serious international obstacles to its implementation.

In the end, it can be said that the plan to annex the West Bank, despite the above six obstacles, will not have a chance to be implemented, and this issue will be included in Netanyahu's record as another failed case.