Photo: APIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank if re-elected - a dramatic policy shift apparently aimed at rallying his nationalist base in the final stretch of the tight race. Netanyahu has promoted Jewish settlement expansion in his four terms as prime minister, but until now refrained from presenting a detailed vision for the West Bank, seen by the Palestinians as the heartland of a future state. Netanyahu pledged that he would not dismantle a single Jewish settlement and that Israel would retain control of the territory west of the Jordan River - the West Bank. More than 600,000 Israelis now live on war-won lands, two-thirds in the West Bank. In any partition deal, the more isolated Jewish settlements would likely have to be uprooted to create a viable Palestinian state.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 06, 2019 21:22 UTC