The faces and places behind Israel's annexation saga
It’s two weeks before D-Day for the settlement movement — the July 1st date when Bibi Netanyahu may begin incorporating swathes of the West Bank into Israel proper following the Trump peace plan — and I’m winging my way at illegal speed across the dramatic olive-green-and-khaki hills of Gush Etzion.
Barbed wire, army watchtowers, and Palestinian license plates flash past when the distracted taxi driver drops a geopolitical bombshell.
“Annexation,” he says, swerving from the path of oncoming traffic, “What annexation?”
Coming from a stereotypically right-wing Israeli cabby, that simple question shows why the Trump plan is in trouble. With hundreds of thousands jobless, and a second coronavirus wave threatening, polls show that annexation, or “sipuach” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a distant concern for the country. Like most Israelis, the “Deal of the Century” simply hasn’t registered on the man’s radar.
Create a free account to keep reading.
