On Wednesday, Israel’s legislature overwhelmingly passed a non-binding measure calling for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, projecting Israel’s intent to pursue the illegal plan that is in many ways already in motion.
The motion, to declare the Palestinian territory as “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel” and proclaiming “Israeli sovereignty” in the region, passed 71 to 13.
The motion does not formally authorize any actions, rather serving as a symbolic measure urging the government to take action. The Israeli Knesset also passed a non-binding motion to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state last year.
The motion was introduced by members of parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, as well as an opposition party member, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich having pushed an annexation plan for years now. Some members walked out of the chamber in protest of the vote, Haaretz reports.
However, coming amid the end stages of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the measure is an alarming show of the wide support in Israel for erasing the Palestinian people and finalizing Israel’s takeover of what little is left of historic Palestine.
Israel has destroyed all conditions for life in Gaza. Human rights experts have said that Israel’s manufactured starvation crisis has reached a “tipping point” and will soon translate to large-scale mortality, with virtually zero options for Palestinians to seek relief. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, are openly calling for the total extermination of all Palestinians in the Strip, paving the way for total Israeli domination there.
Meanwhile, some advocates for Palestinian rights have argued that Israel has already annexed the West Bank in practice. Throughout the genocide, Israel has quietly accelerated settlement-building in the West Bank, while expanding the Israeli military’s occupation of the region. Settlers and their violence have been empowered, gaining even more explicit backing of the Israeli government as Israel has become bolder post-October 7.
“Israel has already effectively annexed the territory — displacing Palestinians and building hundreds of illegal settlements since 1967,” wrote Mondoweiss on social media. “This vote signals intent to formalize it.”
These advancements have come even after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to end its occupation of Palestine a year ago this month.
Analysts have pointed to strong geographical evidence of Israel’s colonialism of the occupied West Bank. Forensic Architecture released a report this week showing that Israel is working to “carve up” Tulkarem, Jenin and Nur Shams — refugee camps that Israel targeted in its “Operation Summer Camps” ground invasion of the West Bank last year. The report illustrates Israel’s “spatial control” of the neighborhoods, showing how Israel is fracturing the camps and establishing military routes in order to assert control.
“By demolishing homes and repeatedly uprooting Palestinians, Israel is not only forcing [Palestinian refugees] from place to place — itself a form of physical and psychological warfare — but attempting to erase the fact that these locations were ever refugee camps at all and weaken Palestinian demand for return,” the group wrote.
“Each wave of displacement seeks to dissolve the Palestinian refugee identity and undermine the population’s political, historical and legal claims,” it went on.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) said that Israeli lawmakers’ annexation motion is yet another show of the impunity that Israel enjoys among American politicians, many of whom are actively enabling Israel’s slaughter and occupation.
“It’s unbelievable that American politicians and media outlets still get away with genocide denial every single day while the Israeli government is voting overwhelmingly to put their war crimes in the legislative record,” Tlaib said. “This is unambiguously illegal, and they’re proud of it.”
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