Report: Top Trump officials to hold two key meetings to discuss Israel’s annexation plan

(i24 News) Top officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration will hold two meetings this week to discuss whether to give Israel the go-ahead to apply its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, an Israeli outlet reported Saturday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government plans to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley, moves that are in line with the peace roadmap the US unveiled earlier this year.

Netanyahu has said the annexation process will begin on July 1.

According to Channel 13, participants at the meetings on Monday and Tuesday will include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser Richard O’Brien, Avi Berkowitz, Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations and Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, in addition to the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who will fly in from Jerusalem.

It is understood, the report said, that Trump will join the meetings “at some point.”

Meanwhile, top Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), warned Israel against going through with the annexation, saying it could jeopardize the Jewish state’s long-security objectives and further destabilize an already precarious Middle East region.

International actors including the United Nations and the European Union voiced their opposition to the move.