Vance, Netanyahu Blast Israeli Bill Applying Sovereignty to West Bank as Trump Warns of Risk to US Support

US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday sharply criticized the Israeli parliament’s preliminary vote to extend its laws to parts of the West Bank, calling the move an ill-advised “political stunt” that undermines US diplomatic efforts and risks inflaming regional tensions.

The remarks came as Vance concluded a two-day trip to Israel aimed at reaffirming Washington’s support for the country and bolstering the ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to halt fighting in Gaza.

Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset, on Wednesday narrowly approved, by a vote of 25–24, a bill that would apply Israeli civil law to settlements in the West Bank, a move widely described as an initial step toward “annexation.” However, experts have noted that annexation in international law means taking the territory of a foreign sovereign country, explaining that since the territory in question does not belong to another country, the bill would instead apply Israeli sovereignty to the area.

Lawmakers also passed a similar bill specifically for the Maale Adumim settlement by a vote of 31-9.

Though the measures still face several rounds of approval before becoming law, the votes immediately sparked a political storm both inside Israel and abroad.

“If it was a political stunt, it is a very stupid one, and I personally take some insult to it,” Vance told reporters.

“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” he continued, saying that’s the policy of US President Donald Trump. “That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office moved quickly to rebuke the vote in a statement, calling it “a deliberate provocation” by members of the far-right opposition and stressing that the government had not sponsored or supported the bill.

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition is expected to block the legislation in future readings, but the incident highlighted widening divisions within Israel’s parliament and the difficulties in both navigating Israeli domestic politics and managing Jerusalem’s relationship with Washington simultaneously.

Some observers have expressed concern that talk of extending Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-governance, could derail the fragile ceasefire with Hamas and complicate renewed US-backed efforts to stabilize Gaza. Such activity in the West Bank could also pose a roadblock to potential expansion of the Abraham Accords which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Vance, who visited the region as part of a broader Middle East tour, said annexation “would only serve to embolden extremists on both sides” and “undermine the trust we’ve been trying to rebuild.”

Meanwhile, Trump also warned Israel against moving toward applying sovereignty to the West Bank, saying he promised Arab countries that the Jewish state would not formally do so and warning Jerusalem such a move would harm the US-Israel alliance.

“It won’t happen,” Trump said in a newly released interview with Time magazine. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also chimed in, claiming on social media that after speaking with Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter he can confirm that the vote was non-binding and not intended to offend the United States.

“He vigorously stressed no offense was meant and reinforced that no major decisions will be made by Israel without cooperation and coordination with the US,” Graham wrote.