5 hours ago
3
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Vice President JD Vance calls symbolic votes in Israel’s Parliament to annex West Bank territory a “very stupid political stunt.”
Oct. 23, 2025Updated 3:18 p.m. ET
The next steps in shaping a peaceful, postwar Gaza remain vague, but the Trump administration has made one thing clear. Any Israeli attempt to annex parts of the occupied West Bank will not be tolerated.
President Trump drove the point home in an interview with Time magazine published on Thursday.
“It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” he said of West Bank annexation. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
The day before the interview came out, the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament, passed two largely symbolic votes in favor of annexing land in the West Bank, a territory that much of the world envisions as the core of a future Palestinian state.
The United States is Israel’s most important ally and the preliminary votes clearly raised the hackles of the Trump administration, which has worked hard to keep its Arab partners to the Gaza deal on board.
Vice President JD Vance, who was wrapping up a two-day visit to Israel on Thursday, vented his anger at the vote. He said someone had told him that this was a symbolic political stunt with no practical significance.
“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said. “The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.”
