Washington [US], September 26: US President Donald Trump says he will not let Israel annex the West Bank, a shocking announcement that is expected to quell the ambitions of far-right ministers in the Tel Aviv government.
In his first public comments on the issue, President Trump said he would not let Israel annex the West Bank . "I will not let Israel annex the West Bank. It will not happen," Trump told reporters at the White House on September 25, adding that he would discuss it directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to The Times of Israel .
Previously, Mr. Trump was said to have made a similar commitment during a meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders at a multilateral conference on September 23 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
At that meeting, President Trump called on world leaders to support his plan to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Arab leaders set a number of conditions, including a commitment from Israel not to annex the West Bank or Gaza Strip. According to Axios , Mr. Trump made it clear that he would block such moves.
President Trump will host Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House on September 29. Mr. Trump said he had a good call with Mr. Netanyahu and Arab leaders on September 25 about the situation in Gaza, declaring that an agreement could be reached soon.
The White House has been trying to convince Mr. Netanyahu to accept President Trump's plan. On September 25, Mr. Netanyahu met with US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in New York.
The White House's message to Prime Minister Netanyahu is that continuing the fighting will further isolate Israel, while ending the conflict will have the opposite effect.
This week, several Western countries recognized the State of Palestine in a move that Israel condemned. The Israeli government, especially far-right ministers, threatened to annex the West Bank in response.
Israeli media said that President Trump's public opposition to this move will certainly extinguish that ambition because without US support, Israel will find it difficult to proceed with the annexation.
The United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) has warned the US administration that Israel's annexation of the West Bank would threaten Tel Aviv's normalization of relations with Arab countries, a foreign policy achievement pursued by President Trump.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
