JD Vance and Rubio Against Israeli Plan for West Bank Annexation: 'Endangers Peace Deal'

(Patria) - US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have sharply criticized the Israeli parliament's move to symbolically initiate the annexation process of the occupied West Bank, reports BBC.

Far-right Knesset lawmakers gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill that would extend Israeli legislation to the area, which Palestinians consider part of a future independent state.

At the end of his visit to Israel, Vance described the move as a "very foolish political stunt." Before arriving in Israel, Rubio warned that annexation could jeopardize President Donald Trump's plan to end the conflict in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move an "intentional political provocation by the opposition aimed at creating division."

A statement from his office said that Netanyahu's Likud party and its ultra-Orthodox coalition partners did not vote for the bill, "except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently removed from his position as chairman of a parliamentary committee."

"Without Likud's support, these laws are unlikely to go anywhere," the statement added.

The statement was released in English after reporters asked Vance about the vote before he boarded his plane at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.

- If it was a political stunt, it was a very foolish political stunt and it offends me personally. The West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.

The policy of the Trump administration is that this will not happen, and that will remain our policy. If people want to hold symbolic votes, they can do so, but we are certainly not happy with it - Vance said.

In an interview with Time, Trump said that annexation would not happen because he had given his word to Arab states, adding that "Israel would lose all US support if that happened."

Since 1967, Israel has built about 160 settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where about 700,000 Israeli Jews live today, while about 3.3 million Palestinians also live in the area.

According to international law, these settlements are illegal, as confirmed last year by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

Although Netanyahu has spoken in favor of annexing parts of the West Bank in the past, he has not taken concrete steps so far due to the risk of damaging relations with the US, Israel's key ally, and Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel in recent years.

Ultranationalist parties in his ruling coalition have repeatedly called for full annexation, but the current bill came from lawmakers outside the government.

The proposal passed by a narrow margin of 25 to 24 votes, and it is unclear if it has enough support to pass the 120-seat Knesset. The Prime Minister has the option to postpone or block it.

The bill will now go to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for discussion and must pass three more readings to become law.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli parliament's move, stating that "Israel has no sovereignty over Palestinian territory."

Before leaving for Israel, Rubio stated that annexation would be "counterproductive" to Trump's peace plan for Gaza and reiterated the US opposition to such a move.

- The President has made it clear that this is not something we would support at this time. We also believe it endangers the peace deal - Rubio said.

His visit comes shortly after the arrival of Vance and two US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as the Trump administration attempts to launch the second phase of its 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The first phase, which includes a ceasefire, partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and increased humanitarian aid, came into effect at the beginning of the month. Although both sides accuse each other of violations, the agreement is currently being implemented.

Rubio expressed cautious optimism that the ceasefire would hold: "There are threats every day, but I think we are ahead of the plan, and the fact that we made it through this weekend is a good sign."

The second phase of the plan envisages the establishment of a temporary government in Gaza, the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, with Hamas's attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251.

More than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which the United Nations considers credible.