The annexation of swathes of the West Bank occupied by Israel would be a " violation of international law " and even " contrary " to the interests of the Hebrew State, warned on Wednesday July 1, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a column published in The front page of a major Israeli daily newspaper.
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The Israeli government is due to rule on Wednesday on the implementation of US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan, which includes Israeli annexation of Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. " I am a passionate defender of Israel " but " I deeply hope that the annexation will not go ahead, " said Johnson in a Hebrew column published Wednesday on the front page of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, the best-selling in the country.
" As a long-time friend, admirer and supporter of Israel, I fear that these (annexation) proposals will fail to secure Israel's borders and will thus be contrary to Israel's long-term interests " added the British Prime Minister, however, who was considered close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who qualified him last year as " friend ".
"Annexation can only distance us" from a solution with the Palestinians
" The annexation jeopardizes the path taken by Israel to get closer to the Arab and Muslim world (...) the enemies of Israel will take advantage of the situation and use it against those who hope for progress in the Middle East ", added Johnson, calling an annexation "a violation of international law ".
An Emirati diplomat had published a column in mid-June in the same Israeli daily denouncing the plans for annexation and saying that these would " certainly end Israeli aspirations for better relations with the Arab world and the Emirates ". " I want a fair solution for the Israelis and the Palestinians and the only way is that the two parties return to the negotiating table, the annexation can only move us away from this objective ", concluded Mr. Johnson thus joining the position many European leaders on this sensitive subject.