Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has told US President Donald Trump that Israel would not remove "even one person" from a settlement as part of a future peace plan. "I said there shouldn't be the removal of even one settlement" from the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 13 television in an interview broadcast Friday.
Washington is expected to unveil proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace sometime after Tuesday's Israeli election in which Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term. The Israeli prime minister was asked if he was familiar with the details of the US plan, replying he knew "what should be in it."
Along with settlements, "our ongoing control of all the territory west of the Jordan" River was a further condition set by the Israeli premier for any US-led peace initiative. Netanyahu said he informed Trump not "even one person" would be evicted from a settlement, telling Channel 13 he doubted such a request would be made.
If such a measure is tabled, Israel would pull out of Washington's plan, according to Netanyahu. In a Saturday interview on Channel 12 television, Netanyahu said beyond keeping settlements in place, he was planning "the next phase" if he is re-elected - annexing settlements.
"I will apply (Israeli) sovereignty, but I don't distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements," he said. Settlements built on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War are deemed illegal by the international community and their ongoing construction is seen as a major barrier to peace. More than 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, while a further 200,000 live in settlements in occupied east Jerusalem.
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