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Palestinian Leadership Threatens to Declare a State

Linda Gradstein

   JERUSALEM - Palestinian officials are stepping up pressure on Israel to
   cancel its planned annexation of part of the West Bank next month,
   saying that if Israel proceeds, they will immediately declare a
   Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leaders say they
   have given up on the peace process with Israel, and will now seek
   international recognition.

   Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Stayyeh said Israel will be making
   a mistake if it proceeds with plans to annex the Jordan Valley and
   lands along the northern Dead Sea in the West Bank. The Jordan Valley,
   he said, which runs along the eastern border of the West Bank along the
   border with Jordan, is crucial for a future Palestinian state.

   "This is the vegetable basket for Palestine. The Jordan Valley is 1622
   square kilometers. The Jordan valley makes 28 percent of the west bank.
   The Jordan Valley is our border with Jordan, and so this annexation for
   us it is seriously an existential threat (tahdid wujd)," he said.

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