Merkel criticises Netanyahu plan to annex Jordan Valley

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement last week that he intended to annex the Jordan valley in the occupied West Bank, saying it hurt efforts to negotiate a peace deal.

"The German government backs an internationally negotiated peace solution in the sense of a two-state solution ... annexations are always detrimental to peace solutions. They do not help and therefore we do not agree," said Merkel at a news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah. The plan announced by Netanyahu, who faces a closely fought election on Tuesday, was "a disaster for any attempt to push two-state solution forward", said King Abdullah.