Why is Trump delaying Netanyahu annexing the West Bank?

There is a general consensus that U.S. President Donald Trump’s so called peace plan will not come to materialize.

American analysts are saying that the deal was dead on arrival. The Israelis know this best.

Netanyahu got whatever he wanted from the Trump administration before this plan was announced anyway.

Netanyahu’s final wish is that Trump supports him and turns a blind eye to the annexation of the illegal Zionist settlements in the West Bank.

Not a single Femocrat attended the briefing at the White House.

Twelve senators, primarily Chris Van Hollen, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, for their part published a letter strongly criticizing the president’s plan.

Another letter was signed by several senior figures responsible for Middle East affairs in the "National Security Council" and "Foreign Affairs" from three different previous presidencies, who noted that the plan was announced in order to "save Netanyahu’s neck.”

Among the signatories of the letter were Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Former Deputy Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and Philip H. Gordon, Frank Lowenstein, Ilan Goldenberg, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Jim O'Brien, as well as the US’s former ambassadors to Israel: Daniel C. Kurtzer, Daniel B. Shapiro and Martin Indyk.

The letter states that Trump struck a coup de grace to the two-state resolution and greenlit the annexation plan of the West Bank.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman have dropped hints indicating that Israel could immediately launch its annexation plans.

Netanyahu was planning to announce his annexation decision immediately after the White House briefing. He had requested immunity until March 2 due to the corruption cases opened against him, and now he has withdrawn this request too.

He had pinned his hopes on the West Bank’s annexation to win him both the elections and to ensure him his immunity.

However, a plot twist occurred. According to reports, both Trump and the architect of this plan, Jared Kushner, warned Netanyahu that the West Bank’s annexation shouldn’t proceed until after the elections on Mar. 2.

This means that Trump, who is busy campaigning for the 2020 U.S. presidential elections, finds it risky to cope with the political repercussions of an early annexation move in the region.

Trump had pledged to withdraw U.S. troops from the endless wars in the Middle East, and he repeats this promise from time to time.

Trump may have calculated that the developments triggered by an early annexation could damage his election campaign. Netanyahu, on the other hand, seems to have bet all his money regarding his political career on the annexation of the West Bank. Bibi could even face jail time if he loses the elections.

Furthermore, figures known for being the mouthpiece of Israel and Netanyahu are starting to criticize Trump and Kushner.

According to information in U.S. media, pro-Netanyahu commentators are going as far as saying that Trump stabbed Bibi in the back.

Some are saying that Trump will lose the support of Christian Zionist Evangelicals if he delays the annexation.

One such threatening and blackmailing sentiment came from Yakov Bardugo, one of the producers of Army Radio and a Netanyahu supporter.

“With all due respect to Kushner, there are millions of evangelists in the U.S. and Netanyahu could mobilize them all against Trump like he did with Obama,” Bardugo said.

He emphasized that Trump would lose the evangelists and his chance to be re-elected as president if he delayed the annexation.

Zionist publications such as the Makor Rishon, which is financed American billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, are also criticizing Trump’s attitude.

You may very well remember “Makor Rishon” from an article in January that targeted Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency’s Undersecretary Hakan Fidan.

As you can see, Netanyahu supporters are trying to force Trump’s hand through the voting base of the Republican Party, i.e. through the Christian Zionists.