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Trump: Annexation of Judea and Samaria? It won't happen. Israel will lose all support from the US

Ynet

Israel

Thursday, October 23


In a long interview with Time, which dedicated the cover to"Trump's World," the US president rejected any possibility of annexation - and called the attack on Qatar "a terrible tactical mistake." According to him, he told Netanyahu that"Israel cannot fight in the world. I stopped him, otherwise it could have gone on for years." Also: His expectation of normalization with Saudi Arabia and what Abbas told him in Sharm

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A day later

Approval of the Sovereignty Law in preliminary reading

In an interview published today (Thursday) in the American magazine "Time" and conducted last week, United States President Donald Trump promises that he will not allow the annexation of Judea and Samaria."It will not happen. It will not happen," Trump emphasized in an interview published shortly after

His deputy, J.D. Vance, who visited Israel, said he was offended by the vote.

"It won't happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can't do it now. We have great support in the Arab countries. Israel will lose all its support in the United States if that happens."

4 Viewing the gallery

(Photo: from TIME)שער דונלד טראמפ ב-TIME

In the long interview, which was published as part of the magazine that dedicated its cover page to"Trump's World" after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - and not only that - he also spoke about his expectation of normalization with Saudi Arabia, revealed what Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen told him in Sharm el-Sheikh - and also revealed that there were discussions on the question of releasing Barghouti from prison - a move that ultimately did not come to fruition.

The American president said he urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu"not to fight the world" in a conversation they had on October 4. He noted that"the world is tired of the attacks. I told Bibi, 'You can't fight the world. You can fight individual battles - but the world is against you and Israel is a very small place.'" According to Trump,"I stopped him, because he would have just kept going. It could have gone on for years. Everyone came together when I stopped him. When he made that tactical mistake - in Qatar - it was terrible, but I said to the Emir - that's what united us. It was so out of place - that it made everyone do what they had to do."

Donald Trump."Bibi would have continued for years" (Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)נשיא ארה"ב טראמפ במהלך מפגש עם מזכ"ל נאט"ו מארק רוטה

The president also claimed that he planned to visit the Gaza Strip - but did not specify when, or how."I will do it. Yes, I will do it," he promised."We have the Peace Council - a very strong group of people. The Middle East is united now - except for Hamas. They signed the document and agreed. Now, they can go against it - that's fine. But nobody will care if we go in and punish them."

Trump spoke about the change of direction from his perspective - when all the hostages were released, and not in stages:"We got them in one fell swoop. They wanted to do two (stages) - but they would give five, ten, two. Each time - it's like a big deal. I said, 'No more of that. You're giving us all the fucking hostages! All of them. They (Hamas) saw them as a burden. They hurt Hamas and Iran. So they made a deal for all 20 - and I guess they're looking for the bodies (of the fallen)."

He also spoke about the demonstrations and the parents of the kidnapped: "You saw hundreds of thousands of people in the square. The kidnapped were above all - we saw the parents and the people - they just want the kidnapped and the bodies. The bodies are under a lot of rubble and a lot of things. I assume they will get certain numbers back - and they are trying, because there is no downside to that."

According to the president,"You would think they would sacrifice the hostages to continue - but the Israeli public wanted the hostages more than they wanted anything else. And we got the hostages."

In an interview with Time, Trump also spoke about his meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit."He's a very different person personally. He congratulated me. He's respected by the Palestinians. He said I've done things that no other president would do - and what I've done isn't even possible." Trump also complimented the PA chairman, who will turn 90 next month."He's not a young guy, but he looks fantastic," Trump stated - who was also asked if he thought the PA chairman could lead the Palestinians in the future - and replied: "It's too early to decide. I know he would like to be." He added that he always considered him a "reasonable" leader, but also qualified it:"Maybe he's not."

When asked who he saw as the current leader of the Palestinians, Trump said they had no visible leader. Then, he was asked about Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah terrorist imprisoned in Israel and considered a prominent candidate for leadership by the Palestinians."I was just grappling with that question fifteen minutes before you called. That was my question of the day. I will make a decision," the president promised. Barghouti was ultimately not released from prison. Israel vetoed his name and the names of several other Palestinian prisoners.

"Not young, but looks fantastic." Trump and Abbas (Photo: Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)טראמפ, אבו מאזן

He also referred to Bashar Assad's departure from the position of Syrian president, and also spoke about the weakening of Hezbollah's power in Lebanon - and the pager attack that resulted in the injury of thousands of terrorists from the Shiite terrorist organization."All of these attacks were carried out under my auspices, in fact - directly with me - with Israel, which carried out the attacks, with the pagers and all that," the president claimed - even though he was not in office at all (a spokesman for Trump later explained that the intention was an attack in Doha - and he got confused).

Everyone respects the president.

The American president also said he believed Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords before the end of the year."I think we're very close," he said - mocking President Joe Biden, who has had difficulty expanding the agreements."I have great respect and love for the king, we have a great relationship, and I think Saudi Arabia will lead the way. It's a big deal." He also boasted that the four countries that signed the agreements - the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan - did not leave them. In Sudan, it should be noted, they did not develop the agreements too much - in part due to a war going on there for power.

"We no longer have the Iranian threat, and the agreements are going to be fulfilled." UAE President and Saudi Crown Prince (Photo: AP)יורשי העצר של סעודיה והאמירויות

Trump also boasted about the American attack on Iran, which Time mentioned did not necessarily lead to the destruction of the nuclear facilities - contrary to the president's claim."We don't have the Iranian threat anymore. We don't have any threats anymore. We have peace in the Middle East. And I think the Abraham Accords are going to start coming into fruition very quickly. I actually know that," he said.

He said,"I think we have reshaped the Middle East - and it is growing beautifully. I have more than three years left - and it is only going to get better. The most important thing is that they need to respect the US president - the Middle East needs to understand - and they do. When you go to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates - the big three - they all respect the president."

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