DayofPal— Israel’s parliament has given preliminary approval to a controversial bill that would extend Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, a move widely condemned as an act of annexation and a violation of international law.
The measure narrowly passed on Tuesday by a vote of 25 to 24 in the 120-member Knesset, despite opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most members of his Likud party. It is the first of four votes required before the bill can become law.
According to a Knesset statement, the proposal seeks to apply “the sovereignty of the State of Israel to the territories of Judea and Samaria,” using the Biblical terms for the West Bank. The bill now heads to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further deliberation.
The vote coincided with a visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who arrived to reinforce a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The timing underscored growing friction between Jerusalem and Washington.
Before departing for Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump had “made clear” that the United States would not support annexation.
“We think it threatens the peace process and could be counterproductive,” Rubio told reporters.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s Likud party denounced the vote as a “provocation by the opposition aimed at harming Israel’s relations with the United States.”
“True sovereignty will be achieved not through symbolic legislation, but through practical work on the ground,” the party said.
The bill was introduced by Avi Maoz, leader of the far-right Noam party, which sits outside the governing coalition. Members of Netanyahu’s coalition from Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism faction supported the measure.
“The people have spoken,” Smotrich posted on X “It is time to apply full sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, the inheritance of our forefathers, and to pursue peace from a position of strength.”
Most Likud lawmakers abstained or were absent, but Yuli Edelstein, a senior Likud member, defied Netanyahu and cast the decisive vote in favor.
“Israeli sovereignty throughout our homeland is the order of the day,” Edelstein said on social media.
A separate proposal by an opposition party to annex the Maale Adumim settlement also passed its preliminary reading. In August, Israel approved a major settlement expansion linking Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, a project critics say would destroy the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The move drew sharp criticism from across the Arab world and beyond. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the vote as “a flagrant attempt to annex Palestinian land,” asserting that Israel has “no sovereignty over any part of the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Hamas described the bills as exposing “the colonial face of the occupation,” while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan all issued statements denouncing the Knesset’s actions as violations of international law and threats to regional stability.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said the votes “undermine the two-state solution and infringe upon the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
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