Israel attempts to soften the resistance of the Arab countries to its plan for the annexation of the West Bank of the Jordan river, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to begin July 1. Contacts in charge of the Israeli foreign intelligence service “Mossad”. However, while Arab countries are adamant. The US refrain from criticism of Israel, but in Washington fear that annexation could bury the dream of President Donald trump to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.The Director of Mossad Yossi Cohen talks with the leadership of Arab countries, including Jordan and Egypt, on the plan of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank of the Jordan river. This is reported by Israeli media. They do not rule out that Mr. Cohen is not limited to remote contacts and carry out in the near future, several personal meetings.Newspaper the Jerusalem Post recalls that Mr. Cohen played a prominent role in building ties between Israel and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Israel has no of diplomatic relations with them, but his contacts with Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia have long ceased to be a secret. Former enemies United against Iran. The Arab countries have used Israel’s experience in the field of cybersecurity and fight terrorism. According to The Jerusalem Post, the Director of “Mossad” was even able to convince some of the Gulf States to buy Israeli medicines to combat coronavirus. Last week, the UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba took the unprecedented step of publishing an article in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, in which he emphasized that the annexation can stop the process of normalization of the Jewish state with the Arab countries. “All the progress we have made, improving society’s attitude to Israel, the decline of hostility — all this can be destroyed overnight by a decision on the annexation. All our achievements can be crossed with one step,” he said.According to the Ambassador, the annexation would provoke violence and the rise of extremism across the region, including the impact on stability in Jordan, but also hurt the efforts of the UAE to the cultural rapprochement between Israelis and Arabs, Jews and Muslims. “The UAE and most Arab countries would like to see in Israel a potential partner, not an enemy. We face too many common challenges and threats and see great potential for cooperation. The Israeli decision on the annexation will be a clear signal of how he perceives the Arab countries”,— concluded the Ambassador. Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia has initiated an emergency meeting of the foreign Ministers of member countries of the organization of Islamic cooperation demanding from them to take a unified stance to stop the Israeli plans.On goingAI to Annex Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke a year ago during the election campaign to the Knesset. In particular, they talked about the establishment of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan valley. After the publication in January of the plan of the President of the United States Donald trump resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict “Peace for prosperity”, better known as “the deal of the century”, the boundaries of the territory, which wants to Annex Israel, somewhat modified. We are talking about approximately 20-30% of the West Bank of the Jordan river. It is planned that all Jewish settlements built on occupied territory, will be included in the plan of annexation. A joint U.S.-Israeli Commission started work on the layout of the map.As repeatedly stated by U.S. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo, the decision rests with Israel. While Washington is an important commitment of the Israeli leadership “the deal of the century”, while the unilateral annexation may eventually destroy the hopes of Donald trump on the implementation of its peace initiatives. To reconcile Israelis and Palestinians is one of the few campaign promises in the area of middle East policy that US President did not keep. As noted by the Israeli media, to the President of the trump there is no common vision: some consider it necessary to support the plans of Israel’s annexation, while others expressed more caution, fearing an explosion of violence in the middle East and the negative reaction of the Arab countries.According to the Israeli English-language newspaper the Times of Israel last week the American-Israeli public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the largest lobbying the U.S. — contrary to its traditional policy to oppose any criticism of Israel made it clear to members of Congress that this rule does not apply to plans for annexation. Simultaneously, The Jerusalem Post published an article by Joel Rosenberg, a prominent member of the community of Evangelical Christians, who constitute one of the greatest support groups among supporters of the Republican party. According to him, the endorsement of Donald trump Israeli annexation will not bring the President another vote of the members of the community in the upcoming elections. On the contrary, Donald trump could lose them if the annexation will lead to a new explosion in the middle East. Mr. Rosenberg noted that Evangelical Christians would not like the expansion of Israeli territories at the expense of the rights of the Palestinians, the gap of the Jordanian-Israeli relations and the deterioration in Israel’s contacts with the Arab world in General. He believes that the conclusion of a peace Treaty with the new Arab country with the support of the President of trump in the eyes of the community would seem preferable to annexation, which could lead to the escalation of violence in the region.Benjamin Netanyahu criticized not only left but also right. So, the head of the Council of settlements, David Lahiani considers the annexation of the West Bank is unacceptable, if in return Israel would have to agree to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.On the need for support from the international community focus former political rivals, and now the supporters of Binyamin Netanyahu in the ruling coalition — the leaders of the block “Kajol-Laban” replacement of the Prime Minister (will take up post in November 2021, and is still the defense Minister) benny Gantz and Minister of foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi. They both approve of the expansion of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, the only question is how it will be implemented.Most likely, the last word will be for the leadership of the Israeli security structures that are now evaluating the consequences of the annexation. According to Israeli media, the country’s leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu, benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, discusses with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel by David Friedman different options, including deferment of annexation or partial implementation.Marianna Belenkaya
