BRUSSELS, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe have signed a letter strongly opposing plans by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
The letter raises “serious concerns” about the proposals and calls for “commensurate consequences”.
More than 240 signatories are legislators in Britain.
The publication of the letter in several newspapers comes a week before the annexation process could begin.
According to a power-sharing deal which led to the formation of the current Israeli government last month, annexation can be put to a vote from July 1.
If passed, the move could incorporate up to 30% of the territory – land claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state of their own.
Israel’s incorporation of the settlements was given the green light under US President Donald Trump’s Vision for Peace – a plan for ending the decades old Israel-Palestinian conflict unveiled in January.
The letter, sent to European foreign ministries, warns that unilateral annexation of West Bank territory could be “fatal to the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace and will challenge the most basic norms guiding international relations”.
The letter, signed by 1,080 parliamentarians from 25 countries, warns of the “destabilising potential” for the region.
Its British signatories include the Conservative Party’s former leader Lord Howard, former EU commissioner Lord Patten and Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a former counter-terrorism minister who previously chaired the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee.
It is also signed by 35 members of Labour’s current front bench, including shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy.
The former Labour leader Lord Kinnock is a signatory, as is former defence secretary and Nato chief Lord Robertson, as well as the Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge who campaigned against anti-Semitism in the party.
European names on the list include France’s security subcommittee chair, Nathalie Loiseau, Vice-President of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo, and Ireland’s next Prime Minister, Michael Martin.
The letter was organised by a former speaker of the Israeli parliament, Avraham Burg, along with three other public figures in Israel among those who have traditionally supported the two-state solution of a Palestinian state in the West Bank alongside Israel.
The letter says President Trump’s plan promotes “effectively permanent Israeli control over a fragmented Palestinian territory, leaving Palestinians with no sovereignty and giving a green light to Israel to unilaterally annex significant parts of the West Bank”.
It warns that allowing annexation to pass “unchallenged” would encourage other states with territorial claims to “disregard basic principles of international law”. It stops short of explicitly calling for sanctions against Israel if the move takes place.
