“It was clear that sovereignty would be suspended for a certain period of time, so it was preferable for us to at least accept the peace plan. I did not choose one over the other.”
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has enjoyed praise over the past few days from world leaders and his constituents for his historic peace deal with the United Arab Emirates.
But some settler leaders and right-wing MKs have criticized Netanyahu for suspending annexation for normalization with the UAE, and view the move as a betrayal of his campaign promises.
In an interview with Israel Hayom on Monday, the prime minister insisted that he did not trade annexation for the UAE peace deal. He said that annexation was always conditional upon full American support.
“There is a misconception here. It’s not that I had a choice – choose between applying sovereignty and the peace agreement,” Netanyahu told Israel Hayom. “From the beginning, I said that I would only move forward [with annexation] with the support of the United States.”
“Applying sovereignty without support is an irresponsible move that would endanger the settlements and the entire state of Israel. [There would be] harsh measures against the State of Israel in the international community. Therefore, there was the clear condition of American support.”
“When they [the U.S.] asked me before the publication of the [peace] plan to wait to apply sovereignty, in order to allow the plan to go forward, they didn’t give me a choice.They said that was their condition.”
“It was clear that sovereignty would be suspended for a certain period of time, so it was preferable for us to at least accept the peace plan. I did not choose one over the other.”
Some settlement leaders said Netanyahu should have pushed forward on annexation, with or without American support.
“Anyone who wants to act unilaterally and without American support will make a bitter mistake,” he responded. “It is not the right thing to do. Those who want to lead the country responsibly will not do that.”
Netanyahu is the third prime minister to sign a peace deal with an Arab country. Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty in 1979 with Egypt, and Yitzhak Rabin with Jordan in 1994.
A recent poll conducted by Channel 12 found that nearly 80 percent of Israelis prefer normalization with the UAE over annexation.