Netanyahu: Palestinians in annexed Jordan valley will not be given rights as Israelis 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinians must fulfil “ten difficult conditions” before they obtain their own “entity” as defined by US President Donald Trump’s so-called ‘peace plan’.

In an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper yesterday, Netanyahu said the conditions include imposing Israel’s sovereignty over the [illegal] settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley, recognising Jerusalem as a unified capital of Israel, giving up the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees in the diaspora and recognising Israel’s security control over the entire territory.

Asked if Palestinians in the Jordan Valley will receive Israeli citizenship should Israel annex the area in July, Netanyahu replied, “No”.

“They’ll remain in Palestinian enclaves. You don’t annex Jericho. There are one or two clusters. You don’t need to apply sovereignty to them; they’ll remain Palestinian subjects, if you like. But Israeli security control will apply there as well,” he said.

However, Netanyahu said that he was indeed “concerned” about bringing Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes over its annexation plans, but stressed that Tel Aviv will defend “the homeland, our soldiers and our leaders against these accusations”, describing the accusations as a “silly game”.

READ: EU discusses agreement on West Bank annexation

“I will not miss the opportunity to annex the West Bank”- Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]