Netanyahu comment on West Bank annexation brings criticism

World leaders are denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to annex large parts of the West Bank in the event he wins the upcoming election.

Stephane Dujarric, a United Nations spokesman, said Tuesday that the organization maintains that any Israeli move to impose its administration over the Palestinian territory "would be devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations, regional peace and the very essence of a two-state solution."

The Arab League also condemned Netanyahu's remarks as "a serious development and an Israeli aggression" that, if carried out, amount to "an Israeli declaration for the end of the peace process."
Netanyahu's plan will undermine any chances of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters after a one-day meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo.

Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said in a statement that annexation of Israel's West Bank settlements would fan the flames of conflict around the region