FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2025
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Washington, D.C. | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urges the international community to reject the Knesset’s preliminary vote to extend Israeli law to the occupied West Bank—an unlawful step toward annexation that contradicts President Trump’s policy and the stated positions of Arab partners, the United States, and its allies.
At the end of his Israel visit, Vice President JD Vance called the vote “a very stupid political stunt,” reaffirming that “the policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio likewise warned annexation would be “counterproductive” to the President’s Gaza peace plan.
Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the bill as an opposition provocation, it passed its first reading 25–24 and now heads to committee. “Symbolic” or not, the message is clear: deepening control in the West Bank while invoking “peace” is a bad-faith maneuver that undercuts U.S. diplomacy and tries to lock in the core questions of any peace deal.
Israel has established roughly 160 settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, housing about 700,000 Israeli settlers alongside 3.3 million Palestinians—settlements deemed illegal under international law and criticized in last year’s ICJ advisory opinion. Any annexation drive, formal or incremental, further fragments the territory and forecloses a viable peace.
ADC calls on President Trump to honor his commitments to Arab partners and make clear to the Israeli government that movement toward annexation will carry consequences. Lasting peace requires upholding international law, protecting equal rights, and rejecting steps that predetermine negotiations. Annexation votes are acts of sabotage, treat President Trump’s commitments as disposable, and embarrass the United States on the world stage.