Knesset Advances Annexation Bills Amid U.S. Pushback

Israel’s Knesset voted in preliminary readings to advance two bills that would apply Israeli law to parts of the occupied West Bank and annex the Maale Adumim settlement bloc; the measures passed narrowly (25–24 on the broader West Bank measure and roughly 31–9 on Maale Adumim) and still require three more readings. The votes took place while U.S. Vice President JD Vance was in Israel; U.S. officials condemned the move — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who warned it would threaten a Gaza ceasefire and derail the wider peace process, and Vance, who called the vote an “insult,” while President Donald Trump publicly downplayed the effort. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud largely abstained or boycotted the readings, and far‑right ministers and coalition hard‑liners pushed them, making passage unlikely without broader support. A wide range of countries and organizations — including Türkiye, Jordan, Oman, a coalition of 14 Arab and Islamic states, the League of Arab States and the OIC — along with Palestinian groups and rights organizations, strongly denounced the draft laws as violations of international law and inconsistent with the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion. Critics say the parliamentary steps risk inflaming West Bank violence, undermine the two‑state solution and create significant diplomatic and legal challenges for Israel, even if observers judge the votes to be partly election‑year posturing.