Published On 24/10/2025
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Last update: 04:41 (Mecca time)
US President Donald Trump on Thursday downplayed the importance of the efforts of some Israeli representatives to annex the occupied West Bank, saying that Israel “will not do anything about the West Bank.”
A draft law applying Israeli law to the West Bank, which amounts to annexing lands that the Palestinians seek to make part of an independent state in the future, received initial approval from Israeli representatives in the Knesset (Parliament) the day before yesterday, Wednesday.
Trump told reporters at the White House: “Don’t worry about the West Bank; Israel will not do anything about the West Bank.”
He added, “Israel is doing very well. They will not do anything about it.”
Earlier, Trump confirmed – in statements to the American Time magazine – that Tel Aviv will lose all American support if it goes ahead with the annexation decision, adding that the annexation of the occupied West Bank will not happen, “because I promised the Arab countries that it would not happen.”
On the other hand, Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassured the US administration regarding the Knesset vote on what Israel calls “imposing sovereignty” on the West Bank.
The broadcasting organization quoted Netanyahu as telling US Vice President J.D. Vance, who was visiting Israel, that the Knesset vote on the occupied West Bank was merely a preliminary reading that would not lead to any result. Netanyahu’s office also said that the vote “was a deliberate provocation by the opposition to stir up division during Vance’s visit” to Israel.
Haaretz newspaper said that Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court – “issued his instructions not to move forward with draft laws to impose sovereignty in the (occupied) West Bank and Ma’ale Adumim.”
On the other hand, Vance told Netanyahu that the Knesset vote should not have taken place while he was in Israel, adding that the occupied West Bank would not be annexed to Israel, and that he felt personally insulted by the draft law that the Knesset approved on Wednesday with a majority of 25 votes against 24 opponents.
Vance added – in a press conference on Thursday during his visit to Israel – that the draft law was a “stupid political ploy” and that it “contradicts Israel’s commitments to the peace process and international agreements.”
He stressed that Washington’s message to the Israelis was clear, which was the necessity of maintaining the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and not taking any unilateral steps that would ignite tension again.