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The Israeli legislature advanced a bill calling for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, amid U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel.
The Knesset approved legislation for Israel to apply “sovereignty” over the Palestinian territory in a preliminary vote, narrowly passing with 25 members for and 24 against. The move is the first in a series of votes required for a bill to become law in the state.
Israeli media reports that members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, Likud, were opposed to the legislation, viewing it as a way to snub Netanyahu as his government already takes moves to annex the West Bank.
Indeed, the vote was timed to coincide with a visit by Vance and members of Trump’s top Middle East advisers, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who does not officially hold a position but has been conducting business in the region on behalf of the administration.
The Likud party dismissed the vote as an attempt at “trolling” and “aimed at damaging our relations with the U.S. and Israel’s great achievements in the campaign.”
“We strengthen settlements every day with actions, budgets, construction, industry, and not with words,” the party said, adding that “true sovereignty will be achieved not with a show-off law for the protocol, but by working properly on the ground and creating the political conditions appropriate for the recognition of our sovereignty, as was done in the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem.”
The Trump administration has previously expressed its opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
“ I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope. I will not allow. It’s not gonna happen,” Trump said late last month, ahead of Netanyahu’s address at the UN General Assembly in New York City.
Notably, however, Trump has been providing Israel with ample military resources and diplomatic cover allowing Israel to carry on with its current illegal de facto annexation of the West Bank. Further, in his first term, Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that significantly advanced Israel’s quest for annexation.
On Tuesday, nearly every Senate Democrat signed a letter, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (California), urging Trump to recommit to his pledge to oppose annexation of the West Bank.
“Since your plan for Gaza does not address the West Bank, it is imperative that your Administration reinforce your comments and emphasize its opposition to annexation,” the lawmakers said.
“As longstanding supporters of Israel’s security and Palestinian aspirations for statehood, we are unified in our opposition to unilateral measures by either party that undermine the prospect of lasting peace through negotiations to achieve a two-state solution. That includes any steps by Israel to annex territory or expand settlements that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” they went on.
The only Senate Democrat to not sign the letter was John Fetterman (Pennsylvania).
Though Trump has spoken out against formal annexation, his administration has demurred on recognizing a Palestinian state. In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Kushner claimed that Gaza and the West Bank are too different culturally to link as a state — without acknowledging Israel and the U.S.’s role in separating the two territories. “You need both places to be functioning — in a good way, where they can thrive before you can connect them,” he said.
However, the idea is vastly popular among the American public. A Reuters/Ipsos poll out Wednesday conducted following the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire deal found that 6 in 10 Americans say the U.S. should recognize a Palestinian state, including 80 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents, and 41 percent of Republicans.
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