KT Edit: Mideast peace lent a blow as Israel plans to grab land

An election campaign that promotes further annexation of Palestinian land is against all moral principles of international diplomacy. It is vile, criminal and illegal. But if you are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ethics and morals can be given the short shrift as he makes a final pitch to retain power. He is laying the ground for another land grab in the West Bank and believes one last shot of immorality will help him win this round in the battle of the ballot. Jordan Valley, in the West Bank, is what he is eyeing for electoral gains this time. Some settlements in the northern Dead Sea region will come as a bonus if he has his way. The extremists among his supporters would love his latest announcement as he projects himself to be the best man in the hot seat for Israel's security. For the Palestinians, it is not just land but their larger cause for statehood and a life of dignity is in danger of being dumped into the dustbin of history unless the world rises against the Zionist regime with one voice. Palestine has sadly been forgotten as conflicts break out all over the world while Netanyahu lords over their future as the United States looks away.

Netanyahu's proposal could land a fatal blow to a two-state solution as the Valley and the Dead Sea region is crucial to a future Palestine state. Israel had captured the Jordan Valley from Jordan during the 1967 war. The two sides later signed a peace treaty but the world recognises the region as Palestinian territory. Netanyahu had even decided to give up the Valley in 2014 but his change of heart is clearly for electoral gain. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have come out strongly against this plan, and the UN has warned that prospects for peace will be damaged further if Netanyahu has his way. Meanwhile, the US is all set to roll out the Middle East peace plan after elections in Israel next week. If US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is piloting the proposed peace plan, thinks economic incentives thrown at the Palestinians could clinch a deal, he is mistaken. Peace will remain elusive, a chimera in the Middle East.