Window of Opportunity for Palestinians While Mapping Goes On

Once mapping of areas to be annexed in Yehuda and Shomron is completed, in a few months, if the Palestinians still refuse to return to negotiations, the U.S. will give Israel the green light to proceed with the annexations, according to Channel 13 citing White House sources on Thursday night.

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner told Republican and Democratic senators Wednesday in a closed briefing that if the Palestinians resume negotiations during that time, the terms of the peace plan could be changed in their favor. If they don’t, he added, the process will continue and “the Palestinians will only be able to blame themselves.”

The White House sources were cited as estimating that Israel would agree to further compromises if the Palestinians come to the negotiating table, in return for normalization with the Arab world.

“Nobody can say we didn’t give the Palestinians an opportunity to return to the negotiating table,” said one of the sources. “If they want to come back and talk we are ready for that and we believe we could improve the plan for them. But if they don’t — we will continue moving ahead without them.”