UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promise on Tuesday that if re-elected he would annex much of the occupied West Bank would not be helpful in the Middle East peace process, a UN spokesman said.
"I think such a prospect would be devastating to the potential of reviving negotiations, regional peace and the very essence of a two-state solution," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Dujarric said Guterres' position is that "unilateral actions are not helpful in the peace process."
According to published reports, Netanyahu said in Ramat Gan that if re-elected next week and he establishes a new government, he would move to apply Israeli sovereignty to "the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea."
Israel captured Jordan's West Bank during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the region is regarded as occupied territory. The Israeli settlements there are widely regarded as illegal while Palestinians hope to make it part of a Palestinian state.
