Can Israel annex the West Bank if the US says no?

Two bills aimed astatine annexing the occupied West Bank person limped done Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, connected Tuesday nighttime successful defiance of some the United States and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing Likud party.

Responding to quality of the vote, US President Donald Trump said simply, Israel is “not going to bash thing with the West Bank”.

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Meanwhile, his vice president, JD Vance, who was successful Israel to safeguard the ceasefire that the US brokered for Gaza earlier this month, went further, describing the ballot arsenic “weird” and adding, “I personally instrumentality immoderate insult to it.”

The occupied West Bank, on with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, has been nether Israeli subject concern since 1967. Since then, Israeli settlements person continued to beryllium built, contempt being amerciable nether planetary law, and, successful the lawsuit of colony outposts, nether Israeli instrumentality arsenic well.

There are presently astir 700,000 Israeli settlers surviving successful 250 amerciable settlements connected Palestinian onshore successful the West Bank and East Jerusalem combined. About fractional a cardinal of these are successful the West Bank.

(Al Jazeera)

While annexation of the West Bank has agelong been a extremity for galore members of Israel’s close wing, it is not yet the authoritative presumption of the Israeli authorities – and this caller measure has yet to beryllium made law.

For Zionists, annexing the West Bank officially would beryllium a cardinal measurement towards restoring what they spot arsenic the biblical onshore of Greater Israel, which encompasses each the occupied Palestinian territories arsenic good arsenic parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. For others, it is simply a means of seizing Palestinian onshore cheaply and preventing immoderate aboriginal Palestinian statehood.

In July, the Knesset passed a symbolic question successful favour of “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley” – the Israeli names for the occupied West Bank. While the question carried nary ineligible weight, a period later, Israel announced the instauration of a caller settlement, “E1“, linking occupied East Jerusalem to the expanding Maale Adumim settlement successful the occupied West Bank.

What were the caller Israeli bills about?

The Knesset voted connected 2 abstracted bills connected Tuesday: 1 to legally annex the Maale Adumim colony and different to use Israeli sovereignty to each amerciable settlements successful the occupied West Bank.

Introducing the 2nd bill, its sponsor, far-right Member of Knesset (MK) Avi Maoz of the one-man Noam party, framed the determination successful biblical terms. “The Holy One, blessed beryllium He, gave the radical of Israel the Land of Israel,” Maoz told the Knesset. “Settlement successful the Land of Israel is the redemption and nationalist revival … aft 2 1000 years of exile.”

How did the votes go?

Both bills passed their preliminary readings. The measure to annex Maale Adumim, sponsored by absorption person Avigdor Lieberman, passed 32–9. The broader sovereignty measure passed narrowly, 25–24.

According to Israeli media, astir each lawmakers from Netanyahu’s Likud enactment boycotted the votes, with lone 1 MK voting successful support.

(Al Jazeera)

Who supported and opposed the bills?

In enactment with the US administration, immoderate of whose astir elder figures are presently successful Israel to enactment up the ceasefire statement they brokered successful aboriginal October, Netanyahu and Likud opposed some bills.

While Netanyahu has antecedently paid lip service to the conception of a “Greater Israel”, his enactment dismissed the votes arsenic “another provocation by the absorption aimed astatine damaging our relations with the United States”.

US President Donald Trump has stated that helium volition forestall the annexation of the West Bank, cutting disconnected US enactment for Israel if indispensable to guarantee it does not spell ahead.

Anticipating suggestions that Netanyahu’s authorities has handed excessively overmuch authorization to the US, it said successful a statement: “True sovereignty volition beryllium achieved not done a showy instrumentality for the record, but done due enactment connected the ground.”

Just 1 Likud MK, Yuli Edelstein, voted successful favour – a determination that has present outgo him his spot connected the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

However, immoderate of Netanyahu’s conjugation partners backed the measures, notably Religious Zionist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In a station connected X, Smotrich wrote: “Mr Prime Minister, the Knesset has spoken. The radical person spoken. The clip has travel to use afloat sovereignty implicit each the territories of Judea and Samaria – the inheritance of our forefathers – and to beforehand bid agreements successful speech for bid with our neighbours, from a presumption of strength.”

אדוני ראש הממשלה,
הכנסת אמרה את דברה.
העם אמר את דברו.
הגיע העת להחלת ריבונות מלאה על כל שטחי יהודה ושומרון – נחלת אבותינו – ולקידום הסכמי שלום תמורת שלום עם שכנינו מתוך עוצמה.
🇮🇱

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) October 22, 2025

Also supporting the measure to annex Maale Adumim were absorption figureheads Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, 2 figures who are regularly portrayed arsenic wide oregon mean successful the European media.

Does the timing of this matter?

For Netanyahu, Likud and their American guests, it’s awkward.

On Thursday, Israel’s media reported the news that the service would beryllium required to summation clearance from the US earlier launching immoderate caller strikes connected Gaza. A time earlier, Time published an interview with Trump successful which helium stated that helium had instructed the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that helium would not beryllium allowed to annex the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu has pushed backmost against suggestions that Israel has go a US “client state”.

Netanyahu has nevertheless gone to pains to accommodate his US visitors, including US Vice President JD Vance – who called the Knesset bills “a precise anserine governmental stunt” – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, statesmanlike son-in-law Jared Kushner and peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff.

All person been dispatched to Israel to enactment up the ceasefire that the president has invested overmuch of his governmental superior successful and that, according to reports successful The New York Times, US officials fishy that Netanyahu is looking for an excuse to break.

As Vice President Vance clarified astatine a quality conference, they were determination to oversee the fragile cease-fire woody successful Gaza and not to “monitor a toddler”.

JD Vance connected the Judea and Samaria sovereignty ballot successful the Knesset yesterday:

“It was a precise anserine governmental stunt, and I personally instrumentality immoderate insult to it… The West Bank is not gonna beryllium annexed by Israel.” pic.twitter.com/hyWxm9z2EL

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) October 23, 2025

What happens with the bills next?

The bills volition present beryllium referred to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further information and indispensable walk 3 further readings earlier they tin go law.

However, fixed the hard US enactment connected halting further Israeli aggression, Netanyahu is precise improbable to let either measure to beforehand further, a presumption echoed by overmuch of the Israeli media.

So, are these votes astatine each significant?

As agelong arsenic Netanyahu, his governing conjugation and Washington reason the bills, neither is expected to go law. However, successful the broader discourse of Israel’s concern of Palestinian territory since 1967, the votes people different measurement successful the gradual encroachment of Israeli power implicit Palestinian territory.

The decennary pursuing the 1967 warfare saw accelerated colony expansion, followed by the annexation of East Jerusalem successful 1980. The 1993 Oslo Accords fragmented Palestinian land, portion the 2005 Gaza disengagement – pitched arsenic a wide betterment – tightened Israeli power elsewhere.

Subsequent years saw continued colony maturation and the 2018 Nation-State Law, which codified Israelis’ exclusive close to self-determination – each pointing towards the de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory.