The argument that “friends of Israel” should stand against annexation because it is “bad for Israel” is a loser. Whether or not annexation is bad for Israel, it needs to be stopped because it is unjust, immoral, and illegal and it stands in direct contravention of the most basic rights of Palestinians, who will be even more isolated from any say in their own governance in a post-annexation single state than thy are in the current single state of Israel, from the proverbial “river to the sea.”
Still, there are some unusual concerns in the annexation idea right now, for Palestinians and for the region, especially in Jordan, that merit attention. I explore them in my latest piece for Responsible Statecraft. Ultimately, it can’t be stressed enough that the argument that we must “save Israel from itself” is neither a moral one nor a practical one. Indeed, due in great measure to its very lack of principle, it has always failed to dissuade Israel from crushing the basic rights of Palestinians. It’s time to stop pursuing it.
Read “The biggest danger of Israeli annexation may lie in Jordan” at Responsible Statecraft, the policy blog of the Quincy Institute.