US official: Only Israel’s leaders can stop annexation

Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism says Trump Administration is “Ready to recognize the sovereignty of the State of Israel in these territories.”

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

An American government official said Monday that the Trump Administration is ready to recognize Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, but it was up to Israeli leaders to make the final decision.

“We have stated clearly that we are ready to recognize sovereignty of the state of Israel in these areas, 30 percent of Area C,” said Elan Carr, the U.S. government Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, referring to the land in Judea and Samaria under total Israeli control.

“We made it clear when to annex territories,” Carr said, but immediately corrected his terminology and clarified “no, that’s not the term, when to apply sovereignty, when to do it and how much.”

Speaking to the online Diaspora Conference hosted by the Makor Rishon newspaper, Carr said the decision was up to the Israeli government.

“This is a decision by the prime minister his partner, Minister Benny Gantz,” Carr said. “They have to decide. We said we were ready to recognize the sovereignty of the State of Israel in these territories.”

Carr made a point of praising the national unity government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that took office last month, saying that the U.S. has “no party preferences in the state of Israel, but we do prefer that there will be a government that can advance policy, not only for the deal of the century, but all the plans, issues and challenges we face.”

Asked if the ongoing corona pandemic and social unrest in America might distract from American recognition when Israel makes the move, Carr responded with an emphatic no.

Netanyahu is pushing for a July 1 date for beginning annexation, but earlier admitted that although Israel wanted to annex “the maximum possible,” the details are not yet final.

“Things are still not finalized with the Americans and the maps are not yet finalized. We need to exploit this opportunity that we have this president there in the White House. We cannot allow Trump think that we are not interested.”

Carr has a fascinating background. The son of Iraqi Jewish refugees who fled to America to escape persecution, he speaks fluent Hebrew and Arabic.

Before his job fighting anti-Semitism he prosecuted violent crimes for more than a decade in Los Angeles.

However, he also spent nearly 20 years as an officer in the United States Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While serving in Iraq he not only led anti-terrorism missions and prosecuted terrorists who attacked U.S. troops, but also met with the few Jews remaining from the once-thriving community there and famously led Jewish prayer services in the former presidential palace of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.