Joint communiqué says Jerusalem won’t discuss new West Bank units for 4 months, authorize outposts for 6 months, but PM, Hanegbi insist ‘there is no change in Israeli policy’
But hours after the joint statement was released, Netanyahu tweeted that “the building and authorization in Judea and Samaria will continue according to the original planning and building schedule, with no change,” using the biblical term for the West Bank.
“There is not and will not be any freeze,” he continued.
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi insisted too that “there is no change in Israeli policy.”
“In the coming months Israel will authorize nine outposts and will approve 9,500 new housing units in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement. “There is no settlement freeze or change in the status quo on the Temple Mount, and there is no limitation on IDF activities.”
The senior official said that the Israeli delegation, headed by Hanegbi and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, stressed in the meeting that the recognition of nine West Bank outposts will proceed, as will the construction of 9,500 new housing units in the West Bank.
According to the joint readout, Israel and the Palestinian Authority also agreed to deescalate tensions and prevent further violence ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The two sides agreed to “immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months,” said the readout of the meeting.
A regional security commission will be established to prevent an escalation in violence ahead of Ramadan, a senior Israeli official announced after the summit. Egypt will host the next summit in Sharm El Sheikh before the holy month, which begins in late March.
The commission will look to resume security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and will examine PA forces’ ability to fight terrorism in the West Bank.
The summit, hosted by Jordan’s King Abdullah in Aqaba on the Red Sea coast, was attended by Israel, the PA, Egypt, Jordan and the US, amid rapidly escalating violence in the West Bank.
On Sunday, as the talks were taking place, two Israeli brothers were killed in a terror shooting in the northern West Bank of Huwara. Settlers rioted later that evening in response, with the Palestinians alleging that one person was killed and dozens were injured.
On Wednesday, 11 Palestinians were killed and more than 80 wounded in a gun battle when Israeli troops raided the city of Nablus in the West Bank to arrest terror operatives. Palestinian terror groups said at least seven of those killed were their operatives. Another three were confirmed to have been civilians.
A separate committee dealing with confidence-building economic measures between Israel and the Palestinians will also be established, according to the Israeli official.
Coalition discontent
Preempting Netanyahu’s rush to deny a settlement freeze, far-right members of his governing coalition rejected the outcome of the summit.
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry, tweeted that he “has no clue” what was said at the “superfluous summit” in Jordan. He pledged that there would not be any freezing of settlement construction for even one day.
“What happened in Jordan (if it happened), will remain in Jordan,” concurred National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir,
Intensifying unrest this year has sparked international concern and follows violence in 2022 that was the deadliest in the West Bank since UN tracking began.
“The political-security meeting is part of stepped-up, ongoing efforts by Jordan in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and other parties to end unilateral measures [by Israel] and a security breakdown that could fuel more violence,” the Jordanian government official said ahead of the summit.
The talks aim to reach “security and economic measures to ease the hardships of the Palestinian people,” the official added.
Channel 12 news reported that Israel had promised Palestinian officials to limit entry into Palestinian towns in the near future in a bid to calm tensions.
Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News reported that the PA team was expected to demand the cessation of Israeli raids and settlement activity while seeking to reach an agreement with Palestinian armed groups to keep the calm.
The summit was also aimed at boosting Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation and solidifying understandings that had been reached earlier this week regarding the steps that the two sides would take in order to deescalate tensions, a Palestinian source familiar with the matter said.
A nearly year-long Israeli anti-terror offensive in the West Bank has left over 200 Palestinians dead — the vast majority in clashes with Israeli troops but some under more questionable circumstances — including 60 killed since the start of the year, straining already frayed ties.
The campaign was launched last year to stem a rash of deadly attacks on Israelis: 31 were killed in 2022, and this year alone, 11 have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks in East Jerusalem — 10 civilians and one Border Police officer — in addition to the two brothers killed Sunday in Huwara.
Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report.
If a person is a “Palestinian”, he must live in the PA or the word otherwise means terrorist, since it is derived from the PLO, a terror organization. What do these people expect? They call themselves terrorists and commit terrorist acts, then they have hissy fits when the Israeli police or IDF come to arrest them. And they shoot at the police, so of course, the police shoot back. The world responds that the Jews should not protect themselves If they won’t live in peace, they need to be deported. If they live in the PA, then they shouldn’t be able to come into Israel. Enough is enough. Jews are tired of living in fear of traveling the roads.
Michael, If we have one little hiccup here in USA, our government is going to learn quickly how dangerous this open border idea is! I was told by a person just a few days ago that has travel all over the world and the USA, how they are becoming fearful of the changes they are seeing as they travel across America. they were not speaking of cities with 500,000 to 1 million. Small and medium cities have got them concerned.
Hi, Sebastien.
I’m glad you asked! Our very own US President Hindenberg (aka “The Old and Senile”) has the answer — Israel hasn’t learned “the way”. It’s called “open borders!” Try it and see, you’ll be so pleased with the results! 😉
If this security coordination was real, why have their been ceaseless terror attacks?
Israel needs to take control of Pal airwaves and stop the PA and Hamas from broadcasting homicidal propaganda. If need be, just block their access to the internet and air waves, entirely. They are producing lone wolves with their propaganda.
The Jordanian official quoted above has made his point: the Palestinians will have more security and better economic conditions to ease their hardships. Who is going to provide these improvements? Are the Israelis expected to fold their arms while being attacked by Palestinian terrorists?
Are we expected to believe all the “reports” being broadcast about the agreements? Some, if not most, seem to be unusually pro two state solution according the PLO charter.
I guess we will need to see if the Palestinians will hold up their end of the agreement during Ramadan.