As Trump opposes West Bank annexation, Israel votes on applying law to occupied territory
The UN’s highest court said that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and its settlements there are illegal
A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land that Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday.
The vote was the first of four needed to pass the law, and it coincided with the visit of US Vice-President J.D. Vance to Israel, a month after President Donald Trump said that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” Trump told reporters at the White House in September. “It’s not going to happen.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party did not support the legislation, which was put forth by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition and passed by a vote of 25-24 out of 120 lawmakers.
A second bill by an opposition party proposing the annexation of the Maale Adumim settlement won by 31-9.
In a statement, Likud called the votes “another provocation by the opposition aimed at damaging our relations with the United States”.