Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex vast swaths of the occupied West Bank as he seeks to mobilise his rightwing base ahead of a fiercely contested election.
The Israeli prime minister, who is seeking a record fifth term, needs a surge in rightwing voter turnout to ensure his chances of forming a governing coalition after Tuesday’s poll. The future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which Israel wrested from Jordan in the 1967 war, is a core concern for his supporters.
On Sunday, Israel’s defence ministry advanced plans for 3,600 new homes in the occupied territory and legalised an outpost by agreeing to seize privately owned Palestinian land to build a road for it, the Times of Israel reported.