The Israeli newspaper "Israel Hume" revealed yesterday that Tel Aviv was concerned about the European Union imposing sanctions on it if it included parts of the West Bank, while the Palestinian government called on the world to respond if Israel implemented the annexation plan in July.
The newspaper "Israel Hume" that the European Union foreign policy coordinator Joseph Borrell is leading discussions to impose sanctions on Tel Aviv as soon as it imposed sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, in the context of the implementation of the US peace plan in the Middle East.
The Israeli newspaper clarifies that Tel Aviv is concerned about the cancellation of the commercial partnership agreement between it and the European Union, and the consequence of this will cause significant economic damage to Israel. Among the possible European sanctions, according to the same newspaper, is the exclusion of Israel from the "Horizon 2027" scientific program, which funds millions of dollars in Israeli scientific and technical institutions.
According to the same source, European countries friendly to Israel, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, will try to block any sanctions against Tel Aviv.
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The annexation project
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to present a draft law to annex the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in early July.
In a related context, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayeh stressed today the need for the world to respond if Israel implemented its annexation of parts of the West Bank, by boycotting Tel Aviv and recognizing the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
Shtayeh added in a cabinet meeting that the Israeli government's plans to annex areas of the West Bank and impose Israeli sovereignty over the settlements will put the Palestinians in front of a new stage.
Palestinian estimates indicate that the Israeli annexation plans will devour more than 30% of the West Bank, and the Palestinians have repeatedly warned that the annexation will blow up the idea of a two-state solution.
At the end of last January, US President Donald Trump announced his peace plan between the Palestinians and the Israelis, which includes the establishment of a connected Palestinian state in the form of an archipelago connected by bridges and tunnels, and made the city of Jerusalem an undivided capital for Israel. According to Trump's plan, Israel maintains the Jordan Valley and the entire eastern border of the West Bank.
The American plan, which was rejected by the Palestinian Authority and Arab and Islamic countries, supported Israel's annexation of the areas surrounding settlements on Palestinian land, which is illegal under international law.