Israeli annexation of Jordan Valley would be the ‘death of the two state solution’ – George Galloway

If Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu goes through with his promise to annex the Jordan Valley, he would be killing the two-state solution for domestic electoral gain, says former British MP and RT contributor George Galloway.

PM Netanyahu vowed to annex the territory and build new settlements there in a press conference on Tuesday, calling the area Israel’s “defense wall.”

“Netanyahu's threat ... to annex the Jordan Valley – which constitutes sixty percent of the entire West Bank area, if you include East Jerusalem – means the death … of the two state solution,” Galloway said.

I call it a threat, you could also call it a promise, it’s clearly motivated by his current election.

The move might be explained by electoral battle, as Netanyahu is now “fighting two other right wing parties” in preparation for the September 17 vote, Galloway noted. He is now trying to convince right-leaning Israelis that he will take a “bold step” in the West Bank.

US President Donald Trump was likely not involved in Netanyahu’s threat, Galloway said, “because it closes the door on the so-called great peace initiative of Jared Kushner,” the White House adviser spearheading Trump’s “deal of the century.”

Annexing the Jordan Valley, and East Jerusalem in particular, would mean “a continuation of a state of war between Israel and its captive population, living now since 1967 under absolutely illegal military occupation,” Galloway continued.

There’s nothing left to negotiate if East Jerusalem is off the table, if sixty percent of the West Bank in the Jordan Valley is off the table. What are they actually going to negotiate with the Palestinians?

Given the recent departure of the “ultra hawkish” US national security adviser John Bolton from his post in the White House, however, Galloway raised the possibility that “Trump will simply say no to this,” or that it was merely an “election ploy” on Netanyahu’s part, which will “never be heard of again.”

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