Overview
- The Knesset approved in a narrow preliminary vote, 25–24, a bill to apply Israeli law and sovereignty to settlement areas in the West Bank.
- The measure now goes to parliamentary committees and would need multiple further readings, with most Likud lawmakers not backing the initial vote.
- Netanyahu’s office called the move a deliberate political provocation and ordered the bills’ advance stopped until further notice.
- U.S. leaders denounced the step: Vice President JD Vance labeled it a “very stupid” stunt and said the West Bank will not be annexed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned it threatens the peace plan, and President Trump said Israel would lose all U.S. support if annexation proceeds.
- A bloc of 14 Arab and Islamic countries, along with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, condemned the vote as a violation of international law, while Washington pressed to safeguard the fragile Gaza ceasefire and launched a civil–military coordination hub in southern Israel.