The Israeli newspaper, "The Jerusalem Post" revealed - today, Monday - a secret message sent by former US President Donald Trump to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he announced his support for the occupation's annexation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
The newspaper said that the message - which had not been previously announced - came in 3 pages and bears the date of January 26, 2020, and Netanyahu received it two days before Trump announced what he described as a peace plan to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which the Palestinians rejected completely.
Trump's plan provides for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, and calls for the establishment of the capital of the Palestinian state in the outskirts of East Jerusalem without allowing the return of Palestinian refugees, with Israel annexing all Israeli settlements and even Palestinian towns deep in the West Bank.
The plan failed because of the Palestinians' categorical rejection of it.
The Jerusalem Post did not provide a copy of Trump's letter, but published excerpts from it.
deal of the century
The newspaper pointed out that Donald Trump presented - in his letter - some details of his vision of the settlement, including that Israel will be able to extend sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, as specified in the map included in the plan (the deal of the century), if Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a state Palestinian territories remaining on that map.
According to the newspaper, Trump asked Netanyahu to adopt the policies outlined in the vision regarding West Bank lands that were determined to become part of a future Palestinian state.
The newspaper quoted a source in Netanyahu's office - who did not publish the letter - as saying that the former Israeli prime minister responded at the time to Trump's message that Israel will move forward with plans to impose sovereignty in the coming days, in reference to the annexation.
At the time, Netanyahu announced his intention to annex more than 30% of the West Bank to Israel, including all settlements and lands in their vicinity and the Jordan Valley.
Netanyahu set July 1, 2020 to start the annexation process, but he returned and announced the postponement of the process indefinitely.
During his term of office, the Trump administration did not publicly announce giving the green light to Israel to implement the annexation process, which drew sharp criticism from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and the international community.