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He added that Netanyahu “could consider moving quickly to help his ally Trump win a second presidential term and ensure that the annexation plan is implemented” before any possible change within the White House.
But Shapiro considered that this would pose great risks at the international level and could cause a deep division within the Netanyahu coalition.
Experts point out that this step may push Jordan to withdraw from the peace agreement it signed with Israel in 1994 if it annexed the Jordan Valley with which it shares borders.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned on Wednesday of the danger of the Israeli plan and said in a statement that “any Israeli decision to annex settlements, the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea in occupied Palestine will be a step catastrophic that will kill the chances of achieving a just peace and will push the region towards more conflicts and will make the choice of a state inevitable. ” .
The visit of the United States Secretary of State comes a day before the Israeli unity government was sworn in before the Knesset.
On Wednesday, Pompeo met with the next Israeli defense minister, Benny Gantz, who praised Trump’s plan and at the same time warned of its threat to regional stability.
Gantz’s blue and white centrist alliance confirmed in a statement that it had discussed with Pompeo “various ways to implement the plan.”
Under the Netanyahu-Gantz agreement, under which Israel withstood a political crisis that lasted more than a year and led to the formation of a unity government, the new Israeli government could move forward with the annexation process starting in July.
Netanyahu, who has been prime minister since 2009 without interruption, should step down as prime minister in favor of his former opponent, Benny Gantz, who will be in office for the same period.
Gantz resigned from his post as Knesset president on Tuesday night under the deal, less than two months after his election.
More than 450,000 Israelis live in 100 settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967. The number of settlers in the West Bank increased by 50 percent during the past decade during the Netanyahu era. Palestinians reject the American plan.
On the ground, the Palestinian boy, Zaid Fadl, 15, was killed on Wednesday in the Al-Fawwar camp in the southern West Bank during clashes with Israeli soldiers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli army said in a statement last night that Israeli forces entered the camp south of Hebron to “arrest wanted people when violent riots broke out,” noting that the youths threw Molotov cocktails and explosive devices at the force.
On Tuesday, an Israeli soldier was killed after being wounded by a stone thrown by Palestinians as the army made arrests in the city of Ya`bad, west of Jenin.
