If Israel does not carry out its annexation plan of parts of the West Bank by the end of September, then the window of opportunity for annexation will have been narrowed, according to senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials.
This makes the renewal of security and economic coordination with Israel a possibility, they said.
A recent assessment by the PA and presented to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suggests a number of scenarios, all based on the determination that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Trump administration still intend to carry out any annexation plan, it will presumably happen between mid-August and mid-September.
The likelihood of annexation will decline with the approach of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and the US election in November. This is the assumption, reported Israel’s Haaretz.
However, Israeli officials say a token or partial declaration of annexation close to November 3 cannot be ruled out, adding that it will depend on the political circumstances of Netanyahu and Trump, both of whom may make unexpected decisions under pressure.
Further, in talks between Palestinian decision-makers and Western and other Arab figures, the idea was raised that Netanyahu might carry out a limited unilateral move in the settlement blocs. Yet, this move would require the approval of the White House, which has conditioned its okay on the Blue and White party agreeing to it.
The Palestinians and the Israelis believe that as long as the novel coronavirus pandemic remains uncontrolled in Israel and in the US, leaders in Jerusalem and in Washington will avoid initiatives that residents in either country might criticize as superfluous at this time.
