London - British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson cautioned Israel on Wednesday against annexation
in the occupied West Bank, saying it would violate international
law and harm its drive to improve relations with the Arab world.
Israeli leaders decided in May that a cabinet debate on
annexing parts of the West Bank, under a US plan for
Israeli-Palestinian peace, could begin from July 1, raising
speculation the government would convene on that date.
But with no agreement yet with Israel's main ally Washington
on the scope and timing of the move, and talks ongoing, no
cabinet session was scheduled for Wednesday.
"Annexation would represent a violation of international
law," Johnson said in an opinion piece for Yedioth Ahronoth,
Israel’s top-selling daily, echoing remarks he made in
parliament last month.
"Annexation would put in jeopardy the progress that Israel
has made in improving relationships with the Arab and Muslim
world," Johnson wrote, calling for a solution that allows
justice and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Under the peace blueprint that U.S. President Donald Trump
announced in January, Israel has said it intends to extend its
sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the
West Bank, in up to 30 percent of the territory.
Palestinians, who have rejected the Trump proposal, seek to
establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East
Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those areas in a 1967
war and withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005.
Palestinian leaders, the United Nations, European powers and
Arab countries have all denounced annexation and consider
settlements that Israel has built on occupied land as illegal.
Israel disputes this, citing biblical, historical and
political roots in the West Bank.
Johnson, whose maternal great-grandfather was a Moscow-born
Jew, said he had once worked in an Israeli kibbutz during his
youth. In the opinion piece, he said he has been "a passionate
defender of Israel".