Yahoo TV

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has angered settlers on the disputed West Bank, who have accused him of, quote, “defrauding” them.

Netanyahu agreed in principal to shelve controversial plans to annex the territory as part of last week's normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates.

Settlers accuse Netanyahu of repeatedly floating the idea of annexation -- only to cave in to international pressure and walk back on his promises.

David Elhayani leads the Yesha Council, the settlers' main umbrella organization.

"He deceived us, he deceived the residents of the Jordan valley, he defrauded us, duped us, he made us think that he is about to apply sovereignty while he never really meant to."

He also accused the prime minister of lacking the courage to go through with the plans.

Around 450,000 Israeli settlers now live among three million Palestinians in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. During recent elections, Netanyahu promised to apply Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank, including Jewish settlements,

but said he was waiting for the go-ahead from Washington to proceed.

When President Trump announced the UAE deal, he said annexation was now "off the table".

Polls have shown wide support throughout Israel for the UAE deal, a view backed by some living in the settlements.

Most countries view the settlements as illegal, a view that Israel and the United States dispute.