Gantz orders IDF to prepare for annexation at once
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday instructed Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi to accelerate preparations for the possibility that Israel will apply its laws to parts of the West Bank after he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump administration officials.
Gantz updated Kochavi on diplomatic developments after the calls and told him to speed up preparations for “diplomatic steps on the agenda in the Palestinian arena.”
He met with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Monday morning to discuss diplomatic matters on the agenda. Soon after, Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Friedman, Senior Adviser to the President Jared Kushner and Special Representative for International Relations Avi Berkowitz.
“The call was cordial and productive,” a senior White House official said. “We do not comment on the substance of private diplomatic conversations.”
