Israelis are talking about annexation of the West Bank, but when it would happen and in what form apparently remain to be determined. Middle East Eye cited the Walla news site reporting on Sept. 1 that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had discussed annexation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was in Washington last week. According to the Israeli news outlet, Sa’ar hinted that his government is quietly heading toward “applying sovereignty” over the Palestinian territory in the coming months. MEE notes that Israeli media have reported unanimity among the country’s upper echelon with regard to annexing the West Bank.
“Applying sovereignty” is now the term of art that Israeli hardliners prefer to use over “annexation,” but it means the same thing. As MEE points out, regardless of what it’s called, annexation of an occupied territory is illegal under international law.
Annexation of all or parts of the West Bank was reportedly discussed during a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet on Aug. 31, in part as a possible response to recognition of a Palestinian state that several governments have declared they would announce in late September during the UN General Assembly. Israel Army Radio said in the morning of Sept. 1 that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir pushed at the meeting for the full annexation of the West Bank, reported the Times of Israel. It said, without providing a source, that Israel believes it has “silent approval” from the Trump Administration for annexation limited to the Jordan Valley area. In 2020, Netanyahu believed he had Trump’s backing to annex the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlement areas, but was told by Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner that that was not the case.
