With Jordan Pullout, Israel Party Calls for Annexation

Legislators of a small right-wing party stood near this bridge to Jordan today and urged Israel to annex the West Bank now that King Hussein is breaking formal ties with the territory.

In a closed Cabinet session, Industry Minister Ariel Sharon recommended that Israel apply its law in parts of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip where Jewish settlers live, an aide said.

Also today, the army blew up or sealed 12 homes of West Bank families whose sons are accused of firebombing Israeli targets during the rebellion that began eight months ago among the 1.5 million Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Hussein announced Sunday he would sever legal and administrative ties with the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War. The Israelis took the Gaza Strip from Egypt in that war.

Legislators of the small Tehiya Party and their supporters held the 30-minute rally at a checkpoint half a mile from the Allenby Bridge. It delayed hundreds of Palestinian travelers bound for Jordan, who endured the sweltering desert heat in taxis, trucks and vans.

‘Historic Moment’

One demonstrator raised a placard saying “Good riddance King Hussein.” Yuval Neeman, a nuclear scientist and Tehiya Parliament member, said: “Thank you for abandoning your claim here, King Hussein. This is now the historic moment for Israel to declare sovereignty in this area.”

Lawmaker Geula Cohen said Israelis might seek to annex parts of Jordan if it ever went to war with Israel again. She contended parts of Hussein’s kingdom were settled by Israelites in biblical times.

She and the other legislators said they would press their demands for annexation with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, whose right-wing Likud bloc considers the West Bank part of the historic land of Israel.

About 850,000 Palestinians and 65,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank.

Hussein has not been specific about how he will end Jordan’s links with the territory.