An intervention on the side of peace is needed

Amidst the growing fears that the deadlock in the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis is heading for further escalation in the wake of the declaration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he intends to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank and make them part of Israel, the Israeli leader added fuel to the raging fire by announcing that he intends to put the Jordan Valley and the entire territory northwest of the Dead Sea under Israeli sovereignty as well.

There are no doubts that if Netanyahu is reelected again as prime minister of Israel he will do just that. In fact, making these outrageous statements before the upcoming Israeli general election this month are intended to boost Netanyahu's chances for reelection.

Netanyahu has been busy escalating tensions along the Lebanese border and with Hamas in Gaza to serve his own reelection campaign. For the time being, the Palestinian side cannot go further than condemning these provocative Israeli ploys, the Israeli voters, especially the Arab Israeli voters, can frustrate Netanyahu's reckless policies if they realise soon enough what is good for them and vote against Netanyahu’s power base.

In the last Israeli elections, the Arab vote was scattered and divided, ending up becoming inconsequential to the outcome of the vote that brought Netanyahu to power.

It is also the time for the international community, including the US and the EU, to speak up against the latest batch of Netanyahu's declarations and warn against their dire consequences in a bid to awaken the Israelis about where Netanyahu is taking them.

While there is no hope that President Donald Trump would join the international community in its bid to sway the Israeli voters in the direction of peace, other nations, including major powers such as Russia, China and the EU member states, can succeed in this endeavour. This would not constitute an "interference" in the Israeli elections, rather it would be an intervention on the side of peace on the Palestinian front.