Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Cherie Cullen / WikiCommons.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would be open to entertaining ideas of unilateral annexation of certain areas of the West Bank if the peace process fails.

“The idea of taking unilateral steps is gaining ground, from the center-left to the center-right,” Netanyahu said in an interview withBloomberg View columnist Jeffrey Goldberg.

“Many Israelis are asking themselves if there are certain unilateral steps that could theoretically make sense,” he added.

Amos Yadlin, the former head of the Israel Defense Forces MilitaryIntelligence Directorate, recently told JNS.org that if peace is unachievable, “moving independently to shape the borders of Israel is the better course.”

In the interview with Goldberg, Netanyahu dismissed the possibility of a full Israeli withdrawal like the Gaza disengagement of 2005. Many Israelis consider the Gaza pullout a failure due to the rise of Hamas and rocket attacks from that region.

“There is an emerging consensus that we don’t have a partner who can challenge constituencies, do something unpopular, do something that is difficult,” Netanyahu said.