The White House said Monday that there was no truth to what was said by an official in the right-wing Likud party of Prime Minister Netanyahu, referring to US-Israeli talks on the annexation of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The United States on Monday denied an Israeli assertion that the US and Israeli governments had discussed Israel's annexation of occupied West Bank settlements and described the assertion as incorrect, in a rare show of disagreement between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"On the question of the application of sovereignty, I can say that I have been talking to the Americans about this for some time now," a spokesman for Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party was quoted as saying at a meeting with party lawmakers.
Netanyahu was referring to the application of Israeli law to the settlements, a step equivalent to annexation. The settlements are now under the authority of the Israeli army, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
The White House later denied any such talks, and a senior Israeli official said Netanyahu had not given Washington a specific proposal for annexation. White House spokesman Josh Ravell said reports that the United States had discussed with Israel a plan to annex the West Bank Incorrect."
"The United States and Israel have never discussed such a proposal and the president's focus remains on his peace initiative between Israelis and Palestinians," the spokesman said.
Netanyahu 's office explains
Netanyahu's office issued an explanation in which it dropped any reference to a dialogue with Washington over any government annexation plan. He said Netanyahu had only briefed the Americans on proposed legislation in parliament. Some commentators see Netanyahu's remarks as perhaps merely a move to satisfy the right-wingers of his government rather than a concrete plan.
But the statement inflamed the anger of the Palestinians, triggered by President Donald Trump's Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in defying a decades-old US policy on the issue.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said any annexation of settlements would "eliminate all international efforts aimed at saving the political process."
"No one has the right to talk about the status of the Palestinian territories," Abu Rudeineh said in remarks from Moscow, where Abbas was holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid reports that they might discuss new options for Middle East mediation.
Most of the world considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. Israel rejects this. The White House said Trump told Putin by telephone that "the time has come to work towards a lasting peace agreement."
No timetable for annexation
A Likud spokesman did not give a timetable for the annexation and did not elaborate on further discussions with the Americans. The spokesman quoted Netanyahu as saying that any change in the status of settlements should be coordinated first "as far as possible" with the United States, Israel's main ally.
"Israel has informed the United States of the various proposals put forward in the Knesset and the United States has expressed its clear position that it wants to strengthen President Trump's peace plan," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
A commentator on political affairs at Israel Radio described Netanyahu's remarks as being of a largely ideological nature, and said it was unlikely to take any practical steps in the near future.
Netanyahu's remarks to members of parliament are, in part, an attempt to ease any political consequences within the Likud over his decision on Sunday to block a bill proposed by a number of right-wing deputies to annex the settlements. A source at the prime minister's office said on Sunday that the bill had been disrupted to give diplomatic efforts another chance.
Trump doubts
Trump's administration is less critical of Israel's settlement policy than its predecessor, Barack Obama. But Trump urged Israel to be cautious, in an interview published Sunday by the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hume newspaper.
"The settlements are complicated and have always held peace, so I think Israel should be very careful about settlements," Trump said.
Trump also expressed his doubts about the Palestinian and Israeli commitment to peacemaking. When asked when he would unveil a new peace plan he promised, Trump said: "We will see what happens, now I say that the Palestinians are not looking to make peace ... they are not interested in making peace. That Israel is interested in bringing peace. "
US-sponsored peace talks collapsed in 2014 and settlements were one of the main reasons for its failure.
