Tel Aviv, MINA – Fourteen ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party on Wednesday evening urged him to immediately annex the occupied West Bank, intensifying calls to formalize Israeli control over the territory, Anadolu Agency reported.
In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and shared publicly by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on X, the ministers demanded that the government “apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which concludes on July 27.
The ministers argued that the current “strategic partnership and support from the US and President Donald Trump” presents a favorable moment to push forward with the annexation plan.
The letter also warned that recognizing settlement blocs while creating a Palestinian state on the remaining land poses an “existential threat to Israel.”
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Signatories include the ministers of defense, economy, agriculture, energy, communications, transportation, justice, tourism, innovation, culture, diaspora affairs, education, social equality, regional cooperation, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly affirmed that the West Bank is an essential part of a future Palestinian state, warning that annexation would mark the collapse of the two-state solution.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Middle East War and has accelerated settlement activities in the territory, especially since launching its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
According to Palestinian sources, at least 988 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers since October 2023. []
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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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