"Hard-right lawmakers from Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition had advanced a measure calling for Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians claim for their future state. The measure was a farce-it did not change Israel's policy on the ground, and half of the Knesset's members did not even participate in the vote. But the legislation was a symbolic slap in the face to the president of the United States."
"Asked about the Knesset vote on the tarmac, Vance acknowledged that it was symbolic, but he was not amused. "If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it," he said. "The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.""
J.D. Vance visited Israel, met with politicians and families of released hostages, and advocated continued implementation of President Donald Trump's Gaza agreement. Hard-right Knesset members advanced a symbolic measure calling for annexation of the occupied West Bank, which did not change policy on the ground and saw half the Knesset abstain. The vote risked unraveling the Abraham Accords by alienating Arab allies and contradicted the president's Oval Office promise not to allow annexation. Vance condemned the vote as a political stunt and affirmed that U.S. policy forbids West Bank annexation, and Trump reiterated that annexation would cost U.S. support.
Read at The Atlantic
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