A poll conducted by the "Washington Middle East Report WRMEA.org", a research organization, showed that the majority of Americans oppose any official recognition by the United States of annexing Israel, any territories from the occupied West Bank.
The survey of 1639 Americans found that 37.3% of those surveyed (between May 10 and May 12) believe that "the United States should not recognize the Israeli annexation," while 34.2% said that the United States should recognize the Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories, While 28.5% (i.e. the rest) said that they do not have enough information to express an opinion.
Israel and its powerful lobbies in Washington, such as AIPAC, the Defense for Democracy Foundation (FDD) (a front for the Israeli occupation army) and others in the United States, are talking that annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank is imminent, and they intend to use less severe terms From the word "annexation", such as "applying Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish neighborhoods of Judea and Samaria."
However, it appears that activists at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - AIPAC research center believe that unilateral annexation, without Palestinian approval, would cause problems for Israel in the United States, and David Makovsky and Dennis Ross, who worked as negotiators and now work at the Institute Washington for Near East Policy "that arose out of AIPAC, wrote last week" We believe that any unilateral annexation is a mistake, and we hope that the Prime Minister will refrain from doing so. "
The Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, urged world leaders to take concrete measures against Israel, saying: "What we are saying to them is that Netanyahu can escape the statements of condemnation, but he needs to hear that there will be a violent reaction and consequences as well."
The US "AXIUS" website revealed on Monday evening, May 18, 2020, that American and Israeli sources told him that the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, is intensifying his efforts to pressure the White House and the US State Department, and he wants to move as quickly as possible to achieve the annexation of occupied Palestinian lands, including All settlements, the Jordan Valley, and parts of Area C in the West Bank, because he is aware of the reservations some Trump administration officials have about giving Israel the green light for annexation now.
"This hesitation, or lack of clarity in the administration´s position on the annexation, resulted from deep concerns conveyed to the White House by the foreign ministries in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates," said Axios.
He adds that these reservations and concerns about the annexation were raised by the Israeli army minister, Benny Gantz, and the foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, in their talks with Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo during his visit to Israel last week.
The site notes that "some Trump administration officials are concerned about the Israeli annexation now, and that it will harm the White House´s plan for peace in the Middle East."
It is reported that the Israeli Ambassador Dermer accompanied the US Secretary of State Pompeo on his trip to Israel.
Dermer fears that if Democratic candidate Joe Biden wins the next US presidential election, the annexation process will be complicated, and you will not find anyone to support her in the White House.
It is noteworthy that the US administration had stated that it would recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire Jordan Valley, and all Israeli settlements located throughout the occupied West Bank, in exchange for assurances that Israel would be willing to negotiate a peace agreement with the Palestinians on the basis of President Donald Trump´s plan.
Although Pompeo did his best to avoid openly touching upon the issue of annexation, while analysts said that the purpose of the visit was to warn the Israeli leadership against moving too quickly, he (Pompeo) and without explicitly mentioning the need for Netanyahu and Gantz to slow down the process, began hinting at Likewise, he told the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom newspaper that Netanyahu and Gantz should "find the way forward together", in a veiled reference to the need to be patient with annexation.
Some observers believe that the Trump administration´s position on the settlements has exhausted its electoral goal, which was intended to keep Netanyahu as prime minister, as the American administration lavished Netanyahu in order to achieve this goal, which was preceded by the recognition of occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy to it, and recognition Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan.
This belief is reinforced by the dispute that has emerged publicly between the US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who urges rapid annexation on the one hand, and those in charge of the settlements file in the White House (especially Jared Kushner) on the other hand, what may Friedman´s absence from Pompeo´s meetings explains the cause of a "healthy illness".
