The question of annexation has remained on the political agenda in Israel since the 1967 occupation. However, only Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were ever officially annexed.
Jerusalem has always been open to final-status negotiations. Various proposals regarding its status have been made; like other unresolved disputes, however, no solution has materialized.
The same applies to the Golan Heights. Israel has not always insisted that its annexation was irreversible. At one point, it was even prepared to hand the territory back to Syria, with the “Rabin deposit” rejected by Hafez al-Assad.
As for Jerusalem, several proposals concerning the city were discussed during the Camp David negotiations between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that were mediated by US President Bill Clinton. The talks eventually collapsed, largely over “East Jerusalem and the Palestinians’ insistence on every inch of it.” That is, Jerusalem had always been negotiable; its official annexation and all the Israeli measures tied to this decision had, at least theoretically, been reversible. It also confirmed that East Jerusalem - in reality, in political negotiations, and from the perspective of the international community - belongs to the Palestinians, and that its formal annexation remains contested.
Since the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, home to some of the holiest Islamic and Christian sites located within the “one-square-kilometer” Old City, in June 1967, successive Israeli governments - whether right-wing or left-wing - have spared no effort to “Judaize” the city and turn it into Israel’s capital. Systematic pressure was applied on its Palestinian residents to force them into leaving, restrictions were imposed, massive infrastructure projects were launched, and billions of dollars were spent to remove its Arab population. Despite all the harm they inflicted on Jerusalem’s Palestinians, Israel’s policies failed to eliminate their presence demographically and institutionally.
This state of affairs has made Jerusalem, following over half a century of occupation and endless attempts at “Israelization”, a persistent challenge. It has resisted Israel’s plans and been equally resistant to international efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jerusalem was and will remain the question that determines whether the conflict continues or a settlement is achieved.
Today, the current Israeli government is proposing annexation far broader and more complex than that of Jerusalem. Within Israel’s own political establishment, there are different approaches to the annexation of the West Bank: some advocate gradual annexation, starting with “Area C,” which constitutes more than half of the West Bank; others suggest annexing the Jordan Valley, settlement blocs, or even the entire territory, including densely populated Palestinian towns and villages. There are even those calling for annexing Gaza, re-establishing settlements there, and imposing Israeli sovereignty “from the river to the sea.”
It has been announced that the upcoming meeting of the Israeli security cabinet will hold discussions on partial or full annexation. Several factors are fueling this renewed push: the ongoing Gaza war and Israel’s failure to achieve a decisive outcome, whether militarily or through negotiations, that achieves Prime Minister Netanyahu’s five stated objectives, and the growing wave of international recognition of the State of Palestine, which is expected to become even more pronounced at the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
From the Israeli government’s perspective, raising the specter of annexation allows for making progress on current and future goals in Gaza and the West Bank. However, taking such a decision requires more than a vote in the government or the Knesset. It would have significant repercussions. Domestically, there is no consensus; regionally and internationally, there is overwhelming opposition that could possibly entail punitive measures in response.
Most importantly, whether full or limited, annexation is categorically rejected by the Palestinians. Should Israel proceed, the number of Palestinians living within Israel’s borders and the annexed territories would rise to over eight million, all of them opposed to annexation, and they will not be short on effective means to resist it.
The specter of annexation poisons the political climate. It pushes the idea of a settlement further away and greatly undermines the prospects for peace. Nonetheless, if Israel were to proceed, it would merely be perpetuating the occupation under a new label, certainly burdening the Palestinians, but also burdening Israel. The Palestinians are united in rejecting this policy, the Arab world stands against it, and instead of solving a predicament, it would sink everyone, including Israel, into a deeper, far more complex one.
