When It Comes to Annexation, Netanyahu Alone Holds the Key

As the election season finally drew to a close, Benny Gantz fired the opening volley this week for the campaign against annexation, after it turned out that the coalition agreement offers the government the option to introduce legislation to annex occupied territory as soon as July.

Many verbal flourishes sought to conceal the annexation clause, such as that “the prime minister and the alternate prime minister will take steps together to advance peace agreements with all our neighbors,” and that “with regard to President Trump’s declaration” there will be a joint “effort” to “preserve peace agreements and an effort to achieve future peace agreements.”

But beyond the meaningless appearance of the word peace, paragraph 29 is clear: Starting from July the prime minister may initiate debates about the “agreement achieved with the United States on the issue of applying sovereignty.” In addition, it says, Kahol Lavan is barred from delaying any committee’s handling of the proposal.