Could the annexation of the West Bank be the policy of Trump's new administration?
The appointment of evangelical Christian Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel has been warmly welcomed by Israeli right-wingers.
The former governor of Arkansas has a history of close relations with the settler movement and the fact he’s been given the job suggests that the annexation of the West Bank in some shape or form may well be the policy of the new Trump administration.
Several settlers are cabinet ministers in Israel’s current government and the appointment of Mr Huckabee puts them front and centre in terms of the continuing takeover of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Mr Huckabee has been a critic of the two-state solution. He also came out against Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, calling it “one of the biggest failures of Israeli governments’ policy.”
The first Trump administration tried to bring peace to the Middle East by publishing a blueprint which was dubbed the ‘Deal of the Century.’
It envisioned the Israeli annexation of existing settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state on some 70% of the West Bank.
The Palestinians rejected the proposal and it was eventually set aside to persuade the UAE to sign a normalisation deal with Israel known as the Abraham Accords.
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There have been hints that Trump would like to build on that agreement. The big lucrative prize would be a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
But the Saudis have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and the de facto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammad Bin Salman, says any agreement with Israel is dependent on progress towards Palestinian statehood.
The current Israeli government is as opposed to the two-state solution as you can get. And it seems the new US ambassador to Israel is too.
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