Report: Mossad chief met with Jordan king on West Bank annexation

Yossi Cohen said to have delivered a message from Netanyahu to Abdullah, who has warned that bilateral relations will suffer if Israel goes ahead with plan to claim sovereignty over its settlements and Jordan Valley
i24NEWS|
The head of the Mossad intelligence agency Yossi Cohen made a trip to Jordan in recent days to meet with King Abdullah II to discuss Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank, Channel 13 TV reported on Thursday.
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  • Cohen is said to have made the trip in order to deliver a message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The exact nature of the message was unclear.
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    יוסי כהן ראש המוסד
    יוסי כהן ראש המוסד
    Mossad Director Yossi Cohen
    (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
    Jordan has expressed strong opposition to Israel's plan to claim sovereignty over its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, which it intends to behin in July, in accordance with the coalition agreement between Netanyahu's Likud and partner Blue & White.
    Jordan, which has had full diplomatic relations with Israel since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994, has threatened to suspend the agreement if Israel goes through with its annexation plan.
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    המלך עבדאללה
    המלך עבדאללה
    Jordan's King Abdullah II
    (Photo: Reuters)
    "If Israel annexes parts of the West Bank... it would lead to a major conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," Abduallah recently said, according to Jordanian media sources.
    The head of Blue& White, Defense Minister Benny Gantz , was to hold a closed-door meeting with his party on Friday on the issue of annexation, public broadcaster Kan said.
    The discussion was expected to last three hours, the report said, adding that all members of Blue & White were told they must participate.
    Meanwhile, U.S. officials said Thursday that three days of White House meetings by aides to President Donald Trump on whether to give Israel a green light on annexation ended without any final decision.
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    Donald Trump
    Donald Trump
    Donald Trump
    (Photo: AP)
    The comments came despite senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway saying Wednesday that Trump was set to make a "big announcement" on the issue.
    "There is as yet no final decision on the next steps for implementing the Trump plan," one of the officials said, referring to the president's Israeli-Palestinian peace blueprint that could provide a basis for the annexation.
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