Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has hinted that Washington would not oppose the annexation of the Occupied West Bank if the country decides to do so. Huckabee said that it was Israel’s sovereign decision and the US would not dictate terms to Jerusalem. 'Respect Israeli sovereignty' “We respect Israel as a sovereign nation. We are not going to tell Israel what it can and cannot do any more than we would expect Israel to tell us what we can and cannot do,” Huckabee told The Jerusalem Post. Huckabee’s comments came days after it was reported that Israel was planning to annex some parts of the West Bank, which it had been occupying since 1967. Annexation of West Bank Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had signed the controversial E1 settlement expansion plan, which would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a future state. “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state; this place belongs to us,” Netanyahu had said. Huckabee also said that the United States regards Jerusalem as the “undisputed and undivided capital of the Jewish state.” This is in contrast to the widely held international view that East Jerusalem will be the capital of a future State of Palestine. The Israeli move to annex parts of the West Bank has come under heavy criticism internationally, with the UAE, which was the first Arab country to normalise ties with the Jewish state, terming it a red line. Luxembourg to recognise State of Palestine In the wake of the ongoing war in Gaza, where Israel is accused of committing genocide, several countries have announced that they would recognise the State of Palestine. On Tuesday, Luxembourg said it will join a raft of countries recognising a State of Palestine at a United Nations summit in New York next week. “A movement is now emerging in Europe and around the world to demonstrate that the two-state solution is still relevant,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said. “That is why the Luxembourg government intends to join those who recognise the State of Palestine at next week’s conference on the two-state solution.” Last week, 142 member nations supported the UN General Assembly's 'New York Declaration' on resolving the Palestine issue through peaceful means and advancing the two-state solution. Only ten countries, including the US and Israel, voted against the non-binding resolution. US urges other countries not to recognise Palestine On the growing international recognition of the State of Palestine, Huckabee said the US is urging governments to avoid that path. “We not only disagree, we strongly urge nations to not go there. For one, it violates Oslo. It is a stunt at the United Nations. It is not going anywhere. It is not going to create a Palestinian state,” he said.
