TEL AVIV, October 23. /TASS/. The Likud Party, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has expressed opposition to the West Bank annexation bill currently under debate in the Knesset. Netanyahu's office issued a statement condemning the legislative initiative as "the opposition’s provocation."
"The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset. The Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support these bills are unlikely to go anywhere," the Knesset's office clarified.
The previous day, the parliament approved two bills in preliminary readings aimed at extending Israeli sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank. On July 23, the Knesset adopted a declaration urging the government to pursue this policy. At that time, 71 out of 120 Knesset members voted in favor, with 13 opposing. The vote on October 22 coincided with US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. Before leaving Tel Aviv on October 23, Vance described the attempts to annex the West Bank as a "stupid political stunt." In an interview published in Time magazine on October 23, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington would not tolerate a possible Israeli annexation, stating, "If that happens, Israel will lose all support from the United States."