Israel Considers Aneksasi Bank Barat In Response To Recognition Of Palestinian State

JAKARTA - Israel is considering the annexation of the occupied West Bank as a possible response to France's recognition of the Palestinian State, according to three Israeli officials, and the idea will be further discussed, another official said.

Israel's expansion of sovereignty to the West Bank - the de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war - was on the agenda of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet meeting on Sunday evening which is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the minister's small circle said.

It is unclear exactly where such steps will be implemented and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in certain areas in the West Bank such as the Jordan Valley, and whether there will be concrete steps, which will likely require a long legislative process, following the discussion.

Every step towards annexation in the West Bank is likely to draw widespread criticism from Palestine, which wants the territory for future countries, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear how US President Donald Trump is concerned with this issue. The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

An Israeli Foreign Minister spokesman, Gideon Saar, did not respond to requests for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US partner, Marco Rubio, during his visit to Washington last week.

PM Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supported the annexation and if so, where.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's previous pledge to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was canceled in 2020 to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in the so-called Abrahamic Agreement brokered by Trump during his first term.

Separately, the Palestinian President's office, Mahmoud Abbas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel, which faces growing international criticism over the war in Gaza, is furious with French, British, Australian and Canadian promises to officially recognize the Palestinian state at a summit at the UN General Assembly in September.

It is known that the United Nations' highest court in 2024 states that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and its settlements there are illegal and must be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Israel itself argues the territories are not legally occupied because they are on disputed land, but the United Nations and most of the international community consider them occupied territory.

Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights decades ago has not received international recognition.

Members of the ruling coalition under PM Netanyahu have for years called on Israel to officially annex parts of the West Bank, a region Israel says has historical and alkitabiah ties.