MediaPart: The Israeli army opposes annexation of the West Bank

It seems that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's last-minute abandonment of the start of annexing the Jordan Valley was not only under pressure from his American allies who considered the decision to be hasty.

Rather, because of the occupation army's opposition to this move, which is feared to result in an explosion of anger in the West Bank that would lead to the establishment of a single state that includes Israelis and Palestinians, which means that it cannot be both Jewish and democratic.

This is what the French MediaPart reported, which stated at the beginning of a report on the matter that Netanyahu's aides said after US President Donald Trump announced last week his peace plan that the annexation of West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley would be discussed in the first meeting of the Israeli cabinet, which the Israeli right grabbed enthusiastically and in particular. The settlers who form the core of Netanyahu's electorate.

However, the impact highlighted a statement that was received by a Netanyahu office official last Saturday, in which he confirmed that the cabinet meeting would not take place, without providing further details.

"So why is this retreat that caused the demonstration on Monday by settlers who came with their tractors to the Jordan Valley to demand the annexation of this land immediately?" The site asks.

MediaPart attributed this to the difference between two authors of the American plan, David Friedman, the ambassador to Israel, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and consultant and architect of this project. The former supports the annexation and wants Tel Aviv to take an immediate decision to start implementing the plan.

As for Kushner, he believes that a historic decision of this importance cannot be taken by an interim government, and he hopes that Israeli leaders will wait for the results of the legislative elections that will be held on the second of next March before annexing the areas stipulated in the plan.

But Netanyahu, out of his excellent relations with Trump, could have circumvented this and pressed to hold onto a winning card that would give him a lead over his opponent in the elections, Benny Gantz, by defrauding Kushner's approach and declaring his victory by annexing half of the West Bank, if there was no other opposition he could not Exceeded it.

Netanyahu announced Tuesday - during an election meeting - that he would not ask the government to agree to annex the Jordan Valley before the parliamentary elections, and some explained that he was due to the negative "unfortunate" position of the European Union, and others felt that the reason was to buy the time necessary to prepare the technical documents.

Military and Intelligence

Indeed, according to MediaPart, the real reason is that both the commander of the armed forces and the head of the Israeli Internal Intelligence Service have opposed such a move.

The website added that no one can imagine that these two leaders have reservations about this matter in terms of sympathy for the Palestinian cause, but that they have multiple diplomatic, strategic, and even fateful arguments.

They believe that such a decision will have a significant impact - currently difficult to assess - on relations between Israel and Jordan, the country that borders the Jordan River and the population of Palestinian origin is part of its citizens, and is the only Arab country, in addition to Egypt, which has a treaty Peace with Tel Aviv.

Israeli strategists believe that this country despite its difficulties and problems, remains the pillar of stability in a region endemic with tensions.

Another argument being used by opponents to implement the plan to annex the Jordan Valley is that this would strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood’s movement, which has been denouncing the kingdom’s diplomatic and security ties with Israel, and if protests against this plan expand to include the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Jordan Valley, this could threaten a treaty. Wadi Araba between Amman and Tel Aviv.

The North War
But the risk of a crisis with Jordan and destabilization of the kingdom is not the only or most worrying that the occupation army put forward to justify its opposition to annexing a lot of occupied lands. Many officers and reserve officers fear the repeated threat of a "war in the north" against Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran, which could To join Hamas in the south, to discourage the American plan, which could force the dispersal of the Israeli forces on several fronts.

This was confirmed by strategists early in 2019 as "the most serious threat" facing Israel, according to the annual strategic assessment of General Amos Yadlin, director of the National Institute for Security Studies (INSS) and former head of military intelligence (AMAN).

As for some officers - who use their precaution or retirees to say out loud what their colleagues believe in the field - they are not only warning about the tactical or strategic consequences of the annexation plan, but rather oppose the same principle for various reasons.

General Yadlin expressed this last week, saying: "Annexation is dangerous (as it could) hinder the path of any possible political agreement, and thus the possibility of a future separation between Israel and the millions of Palestinians who live in the West Bank, which will eventually lead to the nightmare of a single state that cannot To be both Jewish and democratic, and under which the Zionist dream will collapse.

These convictions do not go far from what Israeli security leaders see. There is a movement that today includes more than 280 retired generals, in addition to former Mossad, Shin Bet and police officials, all of whom believe that "a two-state solution with the Palestinians, as part of a regional security agreement, is necessary, both for For the security of Israel or its future as a national and democratic homeland for the Jewish people. "