A-G: I don’t disregard out of hand annexation on basis 'Deal of Century'

Mandelblit said that reviewing the issue “would not be exact math,” and would need to be carefully studied.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Avichai Mandelblit (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Avichai Mandelblit
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit said he would not regard the government decision to annex parts of the West Bank as part of the “Deal of the Century” as illegal simply because the government is transitional.
Speaking at the INSS conference in Tel Aviv, Mandelblit said that “transitional government must show restraint…but if the government asks…we will review it…sometimes you can do things that need to be rushed. It has happened…You need to see what is the basis to rush and why can’t the issue wait for a new government.”
Mandelblit said that reviewing the issue “would not be exact math,” and would need to be carefully studied.
He was speaking shortly after US President Donald Trump revealed his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan which appeared to potentially permit certain Israeli annexation moves over parts of the West Bank in the near-term.
At the same time, he said that it was too early to say as he had not yet received a request by the government.
He did predict that any request would come very soon, in the coming days, and would not be delayed even by a week.
Mandelblit said that he views his role as seeking to find ways to implement government policies, while acknowledging that he had told the government to hold off on certain decisions since it is transitional.