The US State Department has formally denied that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the possibility of Israel annexing the Jordan Valley during his meeting last Thursday in Lisbon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Assistant State Secretary David Schenker, of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs told reporters at a special briefing in the State Department in Washington on Friday, “I can tell you that there was no annexation plan, full or partial, for any part of the West Bank that was presented to – by Israel to the United States during the meeting, and that has long been the US Government position that the ultimate disposition of territory is to be determined between the parties.”
After his meeting with Pompeo on Thursday, Netanyahu said the two men “discussed the issue of annexation, but we’re not talking about timetables yet.
“These things are much easier when you have a government,” Netanyahu told reporters in a quick briefing after his meeting with Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa. “That’s why it’s so important to have formed a government.”