Vance criticises Israeli parliament vote on West Bank annexation

US Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump would reason Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, and it would not happen, suggesting a determination by Israeli lawmakers towards that extremity looked similar a “stupid governmental stunt”.

A measure applying Israeli instrumentality to the West Bank, a determination tantamount to annexation of a territory that Palestinian leaders question for portion of a aboriginal autarkic state, won preliminary approval from Israeli lawmakers connected Wednesday.

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Asked by reporters astir the vote, Vance said connected Thursday, “If it was a governmental stunt, it is simply a precise anserine one, and I personally instrumentality immoderate insult to it.”

Vance spoke aft US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that steps towards annexing the territory, which Israel captured successful the 1967 Middle East war, could endanger Trump’s program to extremity Israel’s warfare connected Gaza, which has yielded a shaky ceasefire truthful far, with Israel violating the truce repeatedly.

“The West Bank is not going to beryllium annexed by Israel. The argumentation of President Trump is that the West Bank volition not beryllium annexed. This volition ever beryllium our policy,” Vance said astatine the extremity of a two-day sojourn to Israel.

The ballot was sponsored by Avi Maoz, the person of the far-right Noam party, who, until recently, was successful the governing right-wing coalition, and backed by ultranationalists National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The speechmaking passed by a ballot of 25-24 retired of 120 lawmakers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bureau aboriginal said that the ballot was a “deliberate governmental provocation” that aimed to sow part during Vance’s visit.

Netanyahu’s far-right Likud enactment said it did not ballot for the bill, adding that without its support, attempts to legislate the annexation of the West Bank were “unlikely to spell anywhere”.

However, observers accidental de facto annexation is dilatory taking spot crossed the West Bank arsenic Israel continues to grow amerciable settlements connected Palestinian land.

More than 700,000 Israelis unrecorded successful settlements successful the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

All of Israel’s settlements are amerciable nether planetary law. The UN’s apical court, the International Court of Justice, successful 2024 said that Israel’s concern of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and its settlements determination are illegal, and should beryllium withdrawn arsenic soon arsenic possible.

Settlers person besides been emboldened by far-right officials to transportation retired attacks against Palestinians, their lands, and properties. Often armed, and backed by Israeli soldiers, settlers tempest Palestinian villages, uproot olive trees, pain homes and vehicles, and battle residents with near-total impunity.

Rights groups accidental the Israeli service seldom intervenes to halt settler violence, and successful galore cases, actively shields oregon assists those carrying retired the attacks.

More than 1,000 Palestinians person been killed by Israeli forces oregon settlers successful the West Bank since Israel began its battle connected Gaza connected October 7, 2023, according to the UN. Thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced owed to Israeli settler attacks, question restrictions and location demolitions.

According to the UN, the archetypal fractional of 2025 has seen 757 settler attacks causing casualties oregon spot harm – a 13 percent summation compared with the aforesaid play past year.

Israeli forces person besides intensified convulsive incursions connected Palestinian towns and villages, portion besides arresting thousands of Palestinians.

Most notably, Israel attacked the exile camps successful Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams, Far’a and Nablus, generating wide displacement that was unprecedented.

The US has agelong been Israel’s astir almighty and staunch ally, and the Trump medication is peculiarly adjacent to Israel, with sizeable sway implicit its leadership.

Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled retired Palestinian statehood. His furniture has considered the thought of annexation arsenic a effect to large Western allies precocious recognising a Palestinian authorities to enactment unit connected Israel to halt its devastating warfare successful Gaza, but appeared to shelve it aft Trump objected past month.

Senior White House officials and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner person been visiting Israel seeking to bolster the 13-day-old truce betwixt Israel and Hamas aft 2 years of war. Israeli attacks connected the blockaded enclave person killed much than 68,000 Palestinians since October 2023, destroyed ample swaths of land, and displaced astir of the Strip’s 2.1 cardinal residents.

Rubio arrived successful Israel connected Thursday connected a sojourn to enactment the implementation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, the US Department of State said. The program envisages eventual reconstruction and unchangeable governance successful the enclave, on with imaginable steps towards Palestinian statehood.

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkiye and 13 different Muslim-majority nations condemned Wednesday’s vote, arsenic did the cardinal multilateral organisations that correspond Arab states and Muslim nations.