A coronavirus resurgence in Israel and divisions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have sidelined the plans to extend sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, officials said.
Although the conservative Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, his centrist coalition partner, agreed the government could begin moving on the plan as of July 1, there has been "close to zero" cabinet-level discussion on the issue.
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And with no agreement with Washington yet on the modalities of the move under a peace proposal announced by President Donald Trump, any step to apply Israeli law to these areas is unlikely to happen soon.
The controversial sovereignty bid was introduced as part of the US's Middle East peace plan, rolled out in January, and envisions applying Israeli law to about 30% of Judea and Samaria.
The plan has met fierce objections from the Palestinian Authority, which warned pushing it through would essentially render the 1993 Oslo Accords – the basis for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process – null and void. The United Nations, European Union, and Arab leaders have also warned Israel against moving ahead with its plan, saying it was in violation of international law and would all but doom the already moribund regional peace process.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is preoccupied with the second coronavirus outbreak that aides said could mandate renewed lockdowns. Unemployment has hit a record 21% and anti-government protests have turned increasingly violent.
A poll by the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute on Tuesday found only 29.5% of the public trust Netanyahu's handling of the crisis.
There has been open opposition from Gantz's Blue and White party, which makes it hard to persuade Washington that any annexations would enjoy sweeping Israeli support.
"It's a matter of right plan, wrong time," a senior Blue and White minister said. "We are in the middle of the biggest crisis Israel has seen in decades ... and it would be irresponsible and insensitive to tend to anything else at the moment."
Gantz has predicted the crisis could last until late 2021.
Another official said more than a week had passed since Israeli delegates last spoke to US envoys about the sovereignty bid.
Asked for comment, Netanyahu's office said it had "no updates at this time."
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