In a first, a senior ambassador from the United Arab Emirates appealed directly to Israelis in an op-ed published in an Israeli newspaper on Friday, stating that Israel’s unilateral annexation of the West Bank could reverse years of progress and normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab world. 
 
Minister of State Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth about the potential losses and destabilisation that annexation could cause.
 
“We have conducted quiet diplomacy and sent very public signals to help shift the dynamics and promote the possible,” he wrote. However, an Israeli annexation “will certainly and immediately upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with UAE.”
 
“Recently, Israeli leaders have promoted excited talk about normalization of relations with the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states. But Israeli plans for annexation and talk of normalization are a contradiction,” he wrote.

With world leaders lining up to warn Israel against unilaterally declaring sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a less controversial alternative — the annexation of three large Jewish cities for now.

The annexing of Maale Adumim, Ariel and Gush Etzion could happen after July 1, according to top government sources. The three large “settlements” are already well-defined and would require additional planning, if any.

The sources said that Netanyahu would likely focus on these established blocs rather than declare an overall annexation in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley on July 1, apparently hoping to mitigate opposition while also appeasing right-wing factions of his government.

The United States at the moment seems less enthusiastic for recognizing any Israeli annexation without approval first from a joint U.S.-Israel mapping committee. The committee has been unable to progress these past few months due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.