Israel Minister Proposes Partial West Bank Annexation

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday proposed that Israel annex parts of the West Bank under its full military control where most Jewish settlers live.

"I favor implementation of Israeli sovereignty over the zone where 400,000 (settlers) live and only 70,000 Arabs," said the head of the far-right Jewish Home religious party in the ruling coalition.

Bennett also ridiculed the U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose writ covers the West Bank but not Gaza, ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas.

"This is all a joke. It's as if we're discussing the purchase of a car with only half of its owners," he told public radio.

In another negative Israeli assessment of the peace process, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Saturday: "There is no partner on the Palestinian side to reach a two-state solution for two peoples."

Their views contrasted with a statement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday at the end of his latest mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"I believe we are closer than we have been in years to bringing about the peace and the prosperity and the security that all of the people of this region deserve," Kerry told reporters.

Direct negotiations were launched in late July but have made little apparent progress as they approach the half-way mark of a targeted nine months.