By derimot*no - July 7, 2025

14 Israeli ministers urge Netanyahu to annex the West Bank. The settlement administration in the area is ready to comply with the order "immediately," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said.

A group of Israeli ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party have called for the annexation of the West Bank by the end of the month. Fifteen cabinet ministers and the speaker of parliament, Amir Ohana, signed a letter arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state in the area would pose an “existential threat” to Israel and its settlement policies.

The measure should be taken before the end of the parliament's summer session on June 27, the letter published on Wednesday said, adding that West Jerusalem should seize the moment - following the weakening of Iran and its allies in the region in recent conflicts with Israel.

"The October 7 massacre proved that the doctrine of settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the remaining territory is an existential danger to Israel. It is time for sovereignty," the ministers wrote, referring to the 2023 attack by the Gaza-based militant organization Hamas that led to the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is not a member of Likud, praised the initiative and said that the Israeli settlement administration in the West Bank would be ready to follow an order from the government and establish Israeli control over the West Bank at any time.

“The day Netanyahu gives the order, the settlement administration under my leadership is ready to implement the application of sovereignty immediately,” said the minister, who also holds a position in the Defense Ministry on issues related to the West Bank.

The authors of the petition also argued that the timing is right, given the “strategic partnership and support from the United States and President Donald Trump.” The development comes ahead of Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump scheduled for next week, where they are expected to discuss a potential ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage deal with Hamas.

During his first term, Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, sparking international condemnation.

The letter was preceded by a similar call by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, which drew condemnation from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Riyadh called it a “violation of legitimate international resolutions” and Cairo called on the international community to intervene.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and has been actively building settlements there – widely considered illegal by the international community. West Jerusalem came close to annexation in 2020, but was abandoned in exchange for normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

From RT, published July 3, 2025.
Translated from English by Northern Light. Links in the original article.
Original article: Israeli ministers call on Netanyahu to annex West Bank.

The text represents the author's opinion, not necessarily that of www.derimot.no.

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