Vice President JD Vance on Thursday criticized the Israeli Knesset vote that advanced a bill to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank while he was visiting Israel, calling it a “stupid political stunt.”
The vote on Wednesday was a preliminary step, and the bill would need to be voted on three more times before it becomes law, something that’s not expected to happen. The vote was supported by some parties in the ruling government’s coalition, but it was opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which called it a “stunt” meant to harm relations with the US.
Before departing Israel, Vance was asked about the vote and said he was told that it was a “political stunt, that it had no practical significance,” and was just symbolic. “If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said.
Vance said that the Trump administration opposes the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. “The West Bank is not gonna be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that. But we certainly weren’t happy about it,” he said.
While the administration opposes annexation of the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said the US won’t get in the way of the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements, which amount to de facto annexation, and US military aid continues to fuel the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu and his Likud party also ultimately want to annex the West Bank, having supported a non-binding resolution earlier this year that called for the annexation of the Palestinian territory, but it’s clear Netanyahu doesn’t want to force the issue now to maintain good relations with the Trump administration.
