The Palestinian Authority has arrested several people who said they would favor Israeli annexations in parts of the West Bank, corroborating sources said, despite security sources’ denials.
In an Israeli television report aired early last month, several Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are heard expressing the hope of becoming Israelis if annexation under a US-Israeli plan moves forward.
The comments by those interviewed directly contradict the Palestinian Authority’s total opposition to any West Bank annexations, a view shared by an overwhelming majority of the Palestinian public, surveys have found.
Photo: Reuters
The Palestinians featured in the program were captured by hidden camera and their identities concealed in the broadcast through blurred faces and distorted voices.
“I want an Israeli identity card,” one Palestinian was heard saying.
Another said that he did not see “Israelis as enemies — their government is the enemy.”
A third said that he “chose Israel” and was not afraid to speak out publicly.
The prominent Israeli journalist who made the report, Tzvi Yehezkeli, said that at least six people who spoke out in favor of annexation were subsequently arrested by the PA’s security services.
“I was surprised to see that even though I’ve blurred the faces of all the people I filmed and distorted their voices, the Authority has reached and arrested [some] of them. It’s just amazing,” he said.
Contacted by reporters, several Palestinian Authority security sources rejected the claims.
“We have not arrested anyone in connection with this case,” Palestinian Ministry of the Interior spokesman Ghassan Nimr said, while Palestinian police spokesman Louay Arzeikat also denied anyone was being held over the report.
Israel had set July 1 as the date from which it could decide on the implementation of the Middle East plan proposed by US President Donald Trump and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It proposes Israel’s annexation of its Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by the Jewish state.
No announcement has so far been made on annexation — a move that would contravene international law — but Netanyahu has said that talks with Washington are ongoing.
Palestinian leaders have warned annexation would shatter any hopes for enduring peace and a two-state solution and risk sparking a new uprising.
About 88 percent of Palestinians oppose the “Trump plan,” a poll last month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found, and 52 percent even said that they would support a return to armed struggle.
There have been waves of demonstrations against annexation and the Trump plan across the West Bank in the past few weeks.
Nonetheless, Yehezkeli, who has been a correspondent in the Palestinian territories for nearly 25 years, said that he realized there are also many Palestinians who do not share the outright opposition of their leaders.
Some interviewees had told him that “we don’t care about annexation” and that “the Palestinian Authority has failed” and was “corrupt,” he said, adding that he regretted not airing all those comments on television.
He said that he had been told of their subsequent arrests by their families and he felt “responsible.”
One Palestinian contacted by reporters said that his relative, who had criticized the Palestinian Authority in the report, had been held for several weeks by Palestinian police and was due to face a court soon.
The individual said he was also in favor of annexation and, despite “fear” of being arrested, added that he remained hopeful “that Israel will give us citizenship.”
However, Netanyahu late last month said that Palestinians who find themselves on annexed land would not obtain Israeli citizenship.
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