Partisan divide on annexation complicates US-Israel relationship – By Laura Kelly (The Hill) / June 25 2020
Democrats and Republicans are making a last-minute stand to have their voices heard on the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.
But separate letters circulating on Capitol Hill are illustrating the stark differences between lawmakers in the two parties on the U.S.-Israel relationship, which has historically enjoyed firm bipartisan support.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads a power-sharing government with his former political rival Benny Gantz, has given a July 1 deadline to decide on annexation.
President Trump has yet to give the green light for Israel to annex territory, and it’s unclear how Netanyahu plans to move forward absent support from the U.S.
A map provided in the January unveiling Trump’s “vision for peace” outlined roughly 30 percent of the West Bank and the whole of the Jordan Valley as belonging to Israel. But a committee made up of U.S. and Israeli officials has yet to publish details on specific borders.
Continue to article: https://thehill.com/policy/international/504411-partisan-divide-on-annexation-complicates-us-israel-relationship
