Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Tuesday if Israel goes ahead with the idea of annexing all the settlements in the West Bank it would be a "disaster" for attempts to find any two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said he was "extremely concerned" about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to annex all the West Bank settlements.
He stressed it will "directly impact" the relationship between Israel and Jordan, and Israel and Egypt, and that "these types of statements are... a disaster to any attempt to move forward to the two-state solution."
Merkel agreed, calling Netanyahu's vow "unhelpful."
“The German government backs an internationally negotiated peace solution in the sense of a two-state solution ... annexations are always detrimental to peace solutions. They do not help and therefore we do not agree,” she remarked.
King Abdullah added: “We are looking on this with tremendous concern."
Scores of outposts, unauthorized by Israeli governments, dot the West Bank, in addition to some 120 settlements that have been built in the area since its capture in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinians and many countries consider all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under the Geneva Conventions relating to occupied territory. Israel disputes this, citing security needs and biblical, historical and political connections to the land.
Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
