Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said on Wednesday that the government’s plan to extend sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria was unlikely to be carried out as scheduled.
“It seems unlikely that anything will happen today [July 1],” he told Army Radio.
His statement echoes that of Israeli Minister of Higher Education Ze’ev Elkin, whs said on Tuesday that sovereignty moves would not begin on July 1, as originally stated.
“Whoever planned that everything would happen in a single day on July 1 did so at his own risk,” he told Army Radio. “From tomorrow [Wednesday], the clock will start ticking.”
After meeting with American officials on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that discussions on the proposed sovereignty move, as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace to prosperity” plan, were ongoing.
In attendance at the meeting were U.S. special Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, Israeli National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat and Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Ronen Peretz.
“There are very robust conversations with Israel on the Trump plan,” a U.S. official told Reuters at the conclusion of Berkowitz’s trip to Israel.
