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White House rejects claim of discussion with Jerusalem on annexing WB settlements

A spokesman of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, quoted the Prime Minister as saying that he has held talks with American officials about “the subject of applying sovereignty” over Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, the biblical term for the West Bank. That said, the statement issued by the Likud spokesman contained no mention of any timeframe for the territories annexation. In response to the statement, however, the White House responded by adamantly denying any discussions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Trump administration with regard to the application of Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements across Judea and Samaria. Officials in Washington were surprised by Netanyahu’s statements at the Likud faction meeting and demanded clarifications on the matter. A high-ranking political source in Jerusalem hurried to clarify that Netanyahu had not presented to the Americans proposals for annexing territories, backtracking on the Likud’s statement.