By Alexander Cornwell, Simon Lewis and Pesha Magid
TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday President Donald Trump would oppose Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank and it would not happen, suggesting a move by Israeli lawmakers toward that end looked like a stupid “political stunt”.
A bill applying Israeli law to the West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of a territory that Palestinians seek for part of a future independent state, won preliminary approval from Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday.
Asked by reporters about the vote, Vance said: “If it was a political stunt, it is a very stupid one, and I personally take some insult to it.”
Vance spoke after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that steps toward annexing the territory, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, could endanger Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, which has yielded a shaky ceasefire so far.
“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of President Trump is that the West Bank will not be annexed. This will always be our policy,” Vance said at the end of a two-day visit to Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told a press conference at his ministry in Jerusalem that the annexation vote was a preliminary reading and that the government had so far not decided to advance the measure.
Israel is committed to Trump’s Gaza plan, Saar added.
The U.S. has long been Israel’s most powerful and staunch major power ally and the Trump administration is particularly close to Israel with considerable sway over its leadership.
Senior White House officials and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have been visiting Israel seeking to keep alive the 10-day-old truce between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants after two years of ruinous war in Gaza that has upended the Middle East. Rubio is due to arrive in Israel later on Thursday.
VANCE ‘FEELS PRETTY GOOD’ ABOUT GAZA TRUCE
Vance told reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport that he “feels pretty good” about the Gaza ceasefire after having talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, other senior officials and the military.
Repeated bouts of gunfire and explosions have shaken the deal and the two sides have traded blame for violations of its first phase, which has seen the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a handover of bodies of some deceased hostages, and a partial pullout of Israeli troops.
Both sides have reiterated their commitment to the U.S.-mediated ceasefire after two years of war triggered by the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s air and ground war in response has killed over 68,000 people and reduced much of the tiny, heavily urbanised Gaza Strip to rubble, Gaza health authorities say.
The U.S. State Department said Rubio was visiting Israel to support the implementation of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan and pave the way towards reconstruction, stable governance and possible steps towards Palestinian statehood.
He was preceded by Vance, who was also due to meet Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Thursday before departing.
WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS
There are hundreds of thousands of people living in Jewish settlements across the West Bank. The United Nations and much of the international community consider the settlements illegal under international law.
Israel’s government cites biblical and historical connections to the West Bank, territory that it regards as disputed, and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The settlements are a highly volatile issue that has for decades loomed as a major obstacle to Middle East peace, as they fragment territory Palestinians want for a viable state.
Wednesday’s vote was the first of four needed to pass the law and coincided with Vance’s visit to Israel – a month after Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the territory.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party did not support the vote, which was sponsored by an opposition lawmaker who is often closely aligned with Netanyahu, and backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The reading passed by a vote of 25-24 out of 120 lawmakers.
Trump hopes his Gaza plan will deliver stability across the Middle East and widen normalisation deals known as the Abraham Accords between Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates to include regional power Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not strike a deal with Israel without the formation of a Palestinian state.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, Smotrich said that if normalisation with Saudi Arabia is conditioned on the creation of a Palestinian state, Israel should reject the offer and the Saudis should “continue to ride on camels”.
Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out Palestinian statehood. His government has considered annexation as a response to major Western allies recently recognising a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel to stop its war in Gaza, but appeared to shelve the idea after Trump objected to it last month.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Simon Lewis, and Pesha Magid; additional reporting by Ahmed Elimam, Tala Ramadan and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai; writing by Michael Georgy; editing by Kate Mayberry and Mark Heinrich)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.