Kushner Hopes Israel Would Wait for Polls before Any Step in West Bank

The US president's adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, hoped on Thursday that the Israeli government would wait until after the country’s March 2 elections to move forward with implementing new policies on settlements.

“The hope is that they’ll wait until after the election, and we’ll work with them to try to come up with something,” Kushner said in several interviews with Arab televisions. He added that while work on technical details could start right away, finalizing the maps would require several months.

Disputes have emerged among Israeli politicians on the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s Deal of the Century. The disagreements have compelled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone the introduction of a bill to the cabinet on annexation.

The US administration demanded the Israeli cabinet not to rush its decision to annex West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

Military sources said that the army’s command and the Israeli intelligence have expressed reservations on making hasty decisions on annexation. They favor slow steps in order to track Palestinian reactions and prevent a flare-up.

They also expressed the security institution's concern over the future of Israeli-Jordanian ties following Israel’s plan to annex the Jordan Valley and the West Bank settlements.

Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called on Wednesday for Israel to establish sovereignty over nearly a third of the occupied West Bank, acting on Trump’s announcement of his peace plan.

“I am announcing this morning that I ordered the formation of a special team to apply and carry out the implementation of Israeli law and sovereignty over all Jewish settlements.”

The defense minister said the team would consist of representatives from various government offices and other security services.

“Whatever will be delayed until after the election won’t ever happen. Everyone understands that. Every settlement, every yard of land that will be postponed to after the election will remain out for another 50 years,” Bennett added.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin tried to justify this delay. He said that the vote would not take place during Sunday’s cabinet session because more time is needed to prepare certain documents.

According to Israel Hayom newspaper that is close to Netanyahu, the change in the PM's standpoint results from his advisers’ decision that issuing a cabinet decision on annexation is unappropriate for technical reasons.

Moreover, US Ambassador David Friedman told reporters that the Trump administration wanted to form a committee with Israel to discuss the issue, but stressed that it could not be said how long this would take.

"It's a process that requires effort, accuracy, and calibration and you have to make sure that the annexation matches the map in our plan.”

“We will look at the Israeli proposal and examine it and make sure it is in line with our plan. We will set up the committee as soon as possible and work on it immediately and try to end quickly but I do not know how long it will take," the ambassador added.