As target date nears, no Israel-US agreement on annexation
(dpa)
Tel Aviv - With just two weeks left before a July 1 target, Israel and the United States have yet to agree on the planned Israeli annexation of West Bank settlements, Israel Army Radio reported on Monday.
An official who was present at a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz with US ambassador David Friedman said that "no progress of any kind" was made at the late Sunday meeting.
The official spoke to the radio broadcaster on the condition of anonymity.
Neither a spokesman for Netanyahu nor a spokeswoman for Gantz would comment on the content of the meeting.
A second meeting was scheduled for later Monday.
A minister of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party said the long-serving Israeli leader was "determined" to go ahead with the move.
"The prime minister understands that possibly in November the window of opportunity will close," Minister without Portfolio Zachi Hanegbi said on public radio.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem and the historic, walled Old City.
Israel claims historic rights to what it refers to as Judea and Samaria, the Biblical names for the southern and northern West Bank. The Palestinians want the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip, as their future state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
A coalition deal between Netanyahu and his former rival Gantz stipulates that the former may bring an annexation proposal for a vote before parliament as early as July 1.
The official spoke to the radio broadcaster on the condition of anonymity.
Neither a spokesman for Netanyahu nor a spokeswoman for Gantz would comment on the content of the meeting.
A second meeting was scheduled for later Monday.
A minister of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party said the long-serving Israeli leader was "determined" to go ahead with the move.
"The prime minister understands that possibly in November the window of opportunity will close," Minister without Portfolio Zachi Hanegbi said on public radio.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem and the historic, walled Old City.
Israel claims historic rights to what it refers to as Judea and Samaria, the Biblical names for the southern and northern West Bank. The Palestinians want the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip, as their future state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
A coalition deal between Netanyahu and his former rival Gantz stipulates that the former may bring an annexation proposal for a vote before parliament as early as July 1.