Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that discussions with the US on his plan to annex occupied West Bank territory would continue "in the coming days," indicating he would miss the July 1 target date for beginning the controversial process.
Netanyahu made the comments shortly after wrapping up talks with White House envoy Avi Berkowitz and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. The sides have been holding talks for several months on finalizing a map spelling out which areas of Judea and Samaria will come under Israeli sovereignty.
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"I spoke about the question of sovereignty, which we are working on these days and we will continue to work on in the coming days," Netanyahu said.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who met separately with Berkowitz, said Tuesday that "We are standing before major regional opportunities. We must act with great responsibility to protect Israel's diplomatic and defense interests, while keeping up a constant dialogue with our friend the US and our neighboring states, without hurting defense and security, stability, or the existing peace agreements."
Meanwhile, senior cabinet ministers are saying that despite the difficulties of moving ahead with the plan, Netanyahu would manage to see it through.
In closed-door talks on Tuesday, the ministers said that there was a majority of support for the sovereignty plan in the government, despite objection to it from Blue and White.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich (Blue and White) spoke in favor of the sovereignty plan on Tuesday. During a tour of Gush Etzion, she noted, "This place belonged to our forefathers. The citizens of Israel who live here are here because of decisions made by the Israeli government. It needs to be under Israeli sovereignty."
Also on Tuesday Kan 11 News published a graphic showing what it said were proposed Israeli modifications to the initial map of the areas to come under Israeli sovereignty, proposed by Trump.
The map calls for turning over additional territory allocated to the Palestinians under the Oslo Accords, specifically land surrounding settlements and highways that are marked in green. In return, it proposes compensating the Palestinians with territory, marked in yellow, that the Trump proposal had allocated to Israel.
Citing an unnamed source, Channel 12 News reported that the American negotiators were asking Israel to make "a significant step" as a gesture to the Palestinians, such as handing over an amount of territory to Palestinian control that was comparable in size to the areas in which it plans to declare sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has encountered some resistance to his plans for sovereignty from his governing partner, Defense Minister, and Prime Minister-designate, Benny Gantz.
The coalition agreement for their new government, which was formed in May, gives Netanyahu the authority to present a proposal for sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and settlements in Judea and Samaria after July 1. But US officials have said they do not want to move forward with a plan unless the two leaders are in agreement.
Gantz said Monday that the July 1 target date was not "sacred." He also said that sovereignty "will wait" while the government grappled with the coronavirus health crisis and the economic crisis that has resulted from the nationwide shutdown.
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