Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he may annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the occupied West Bank "in coordination" with the United States — a move that risks shattering the fragile status quo in the volatile region, NBC News reported.
"This is a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty to communities in Judea and Samaria," he told reporters in Jerusalem Tuesday, referring to the West Bank.
"I request a mandate to apply Jewish sovereignty to all communities and I intend to do so in coordination with the United States," he said, adding that the U.S. would present its long-awaited Israel-Palestinian peace plan a few days after the election.
The announcement was an apparent last-ditch attempt to attract right-wing voters before Israel heads to the polls in an unprecedented repeat election next week. Parliament was dissolved following an April vote in which Netanyahu failed to cobble together a government.