Published: 28 May 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
What areas can be annexed under the Trump plan?
On paper, the Trump plan is based on the two-state solution and sketches out a distant future in which there will be a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. But in terms of the territory on which this Palestinian state would be established, it proposes the most limited and noncontiguous territory ever offered to the Palestinians by the international community.
The administration’s guiding principle, according to Trump, is that “no Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted from their homes.” As a result, the map accompanying the plan allows Israel to annex all the existing settlements, in addition to the areas surrounding them and access roads.
According to the US administration, Israel would be annexing around 30 percent of the West Bank. However, based on the maps presented by Netanyahu and the administration, experts estimate it would actually be 20 percent.
This is in addition to the “exchange of territories and populations” that appear in the plan in the Negev and Galilee area known as The Triangle. However, it isn’t clear if these will remain in the plan after they were so widely condemned in January.
It’s important to remember that a final, detailed map has yet to be published. The administration set up a joint Israeli-American committee, which has been working since the plan’s release to draw more precise borders. According to senior U.S. officials, that map is almost ready.
FULL STORY Israeli annexation explained: what is Netanyahu planning for the West Bank and what does it mean (Haaretz)
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NAOMI CHAZAN: The annexation time bomb (Times of Israel)
There's a connection between Netanyahu being on trial and his inclination to carry out the symbolic act of extending Israeli sovereignty
EDITORIAL: Annexing the future (Haaretz)
The sprint toward annexation would not just be a gross violation of international law. Unilateral annexation would embroil Israel in a diplomatic confrontation with most of the world, and the EU in particular; it could undermine Israel’s relations with the US administration should Donald Trump fail to be re-elected.
It would perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; it would endanger the peace treaty with Jordan; and above all it would shut the door to any chances of good relations with neighbouring Arab states.
Cartoon: Eran Wolkowski
