For months, Netanyahu and his fellow right-wing leaders have pledged to carry out unilateral annexations as soon as possible — with the deliberate goal of making the occupation permanent and preventing the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. Now that Blue and White party leader MK Benny Gantz has agreed to negotiate the formation of an Israeli “unity government” in which Benjamin Netanyahu will remain prime minister, will the prime minister and his right-wing allies will use this government to implement their dream of unilateral annexation of occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank?
NIMROD NOVIK is the Israel Policy Forum’s Israel Fellow. The former Senior Advisor on foreign policy to the late Shimon Peres, Novik is currently a Senior Associate at at the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF) and is a member of the Executive Committee at Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS). In addition to Israeli security and political circles, Novik maintains close contacts with the Egyptian intelligence community, Jordanian security establishment, Palestinian political leadership and Saudi security experts, as well as with senior U.S., European, UN and other relevant officials dealing with Middle East policy.
TAL SHALEV is the chief Political and diplomatic Correspondent for Walla! News – the largest Israeli website that provides independent breaking news and analysis 24 hours a day. She covers Israel’s Prime minister, government, parliament and parliament as well as the country’s foreign and diplomatic affairs, including TV and written commentary and analysis. Tal has over a decade of an extremely varied and rich career in journalism, including as a news editor for Israel’s Haaretz daily newspaper, known for its liberal stance on domestic and foreign issues, and was part of the establishment team of i24 News. Prior to her media career, she studied political science and philosophy at Tel Aviv University.