Israeli Foreign Ministry Gabi Ashkenzai said he believed it was unlikely that the plan of annexing areas of the West Bank by the occupation authorities would take place on Wednesday.

Talking to Army Radio early Wednesday, Ashkenazi said he believed it was unlikely that anything major would occur during the day, Israeli media reported.

“I don’t know if there will be a declaration of sovereignty today — that should be asked of (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. It seems unlikely it will happen today,” said Ashkenazi .

“I don’t think it’s likely to happen today.”

Netanyahu’s coalition agreement set July 1 as the date from which it can begin implementing US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, which paves the way for the annexation of Israeli settlements, amounting to some 30 percent of the West Bank.

But as the sun rose on Netanyahu’s self-imposed kick-off date, signs pointed against a major policy announcement, with the prime minister and his allies hinting that such action was not imminent.

Netanyahu met on Tuesday with US Ambassador to the Zionist entity David Friedman and White House peace envoy Avi Berkowitz, and appeared to indicate after the meeting that he would miss the July 1 target date.

“I spoke about the question of sovereignty, which we are working on these days and we will continue to work on in the coming days,” Netanyahu said, meaning the groundwork ahead of the move will continue after July 1.

Source: Israeli media