“Sovereignty without a name”… Israel accelerates the annexation of the West Bank | policy

In recent years, the Israeli occupation’s efforts to annex the West Bank have increased by expanding its influence over large parts beyond the 1967 armistice line.

In 2024, the International Court of Justice said that Tel Aviv had crossed the line towards the actual annexation of large parts of the West Bank, as it transferred many powers in the region to the Israeli civil authorities to apply their laws.

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A detailed report issued by the International Crisis Group, entitled “Sovereignty without a name: Israel is rushing to annex the West BankUntil Tel Aviv actually began to annex parts of the West Bank, and it accelerated this after the far-right ministers took office since 2022.

The report called on external parties to confront the reality created by Israel to prevent the annexation of the expansion, and to find ways that allow the Palestinians in the West Bank to live in dignity and basic rights.

He also called on all concerned parties to strive to change the living reality in the West Bank, and to confront Tel Aviv with concrete measures, from trade sanctions to arms export restrictions.

Greater Israel

The report indicated that the settlement movement in Israel became a strong influence after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed the 2022 government, in which politicians from the far right participated, aiming to expand within the Palestinian territories, and explicitly announced their intention to annex the West Bank and form the Greater State of Israel.

After the appointment of Bezalel Smotrich, known for his open hostility to the Palestinians, as Minister of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Defense, the settlers’ ambitions began to turn into a tangible reality, as he expelled numbers of Palestinians from their land and forced them to live in isolated places subject to the occupation forces.

These expansion activities were revealed in an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2024, which concluded that Israel had illegally annexed parts of the West Bank.

Pressure from the international community

Although Israel has practically begun to annex parts of the West Bank, as indicated by the International Court of Justice, it still hesitates to announce it officially, because that will reinforce the growing impression that it is an apartheid state and violates the fundamental international rule prohibiting the seizure of lands by force.

With the increasing cases of settlement and expansion in the West Bank and the occupation adopting the theory of an expanded Israel, some politicians in Tel Aviv raise the problem of Palestinian rights in an expanded Israel.

In the face of this expansion and the trend to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, the question that should be asked is: What will the international actors who still consider the two-state solution to be a pillar of regional peace do?

In concrete reality, it can be said that the international community gave Israel an almost absolute mandate in its creeping annexation of the West Bank, because the United States, which has the greatest influence, provided full support for Israel, regardless of the personal tensions between Netanyahu and the American presidents.

But the war on the Gaza Strip and the subsequent wave of recognitions of the State of Palestine gave an indication of the possibility of following a new approach through which one could work to prevent Israel from expanding and violating the rights of the Palestinians.

This path may succeed if the European Union decides to suspend the association agreement with Israel and make arms exports an issue of pressure in the face of expansion policies. It may also help in the success of the path if the normalized Arab countries adopt a position that stipulates that relations depend on the West Bank issue.

In this context, the report issued by the International Crisis Group concluded that the obstacles to the two-state solution are long-term and extremely complex, and many analysts see them as impossible to overcome, but there is no scenario that would make continued annexation provide a better outcome for the Palestinian people or even for the Israelis.

The report warned that Israel will not change its position easily, but if external actors act with patience, continuity and coordination, they will increase the chances of changing its behavior. In the absence of that, the status quo will become more entrenched, which means depriving the Palestinian people of the establishment of their state.

Main conclusions

What’s new?

The far-right Israeli government is restructuring its occupation of the West Bank, by transferring its governing powers from military to civilian institutions, gradually imposing permanent institutional control over it. As the authority of Israeli law expands further in the region and the scope for Palestinian independence shrinks, a large part of the region has effectively been annexed.

Why did this happen?

Israel has long consolidated the spread of settlements and created “facts on the ground” consistent with annexation, while deflecting some criticism by refraining from formally declaring its sovereignty over the West Bank. But far-right ministers are making unprecedented legal changes, and a growing number of prominent Israeli figures are calling for the formal annexation of the West Bank.

Why is this important?

Whether the annexation becomes official or not, the changes brought about by Israel erase the remaining differences between life in the West Bank settlements and life in Israel. For the Palestinians of the West Bank, who are deprived of their basic rights by Israel, these moves simultaneously reduce the possibility of establishing a state and the possibility of living a normal life in their homeland.

What should be done?

External actors should seize the opportunity of ceasefire diplomacy to act, rather than waiting for what could be argued to be a superfluous formal annexation of the West Bank. It should use its influence, including trade and arms sales, to pressure Israel to stop entrenching and expanding annexation, and to begin reversing its course.