Right-wing politicians are pushing for Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in response to Sunday’s announcements by Britain, Australia, Canada and Portugal recognising a Palestinian state.
There was no immediate Israeli response to the diplomatic development. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is in the United States, said this will come next week.
“The response to the latest attempt to force a terrorist state in the heart of our country will be given after my return from the United States. Wait and see,” he said on Sunday in a video message, without providing further details.
In his statement, he indicated that any Israeli reaction must be supported by Washington. The issue will be high on the agenda when he meets with US president Donald Trump at the White House next Monday.
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Netanyahu repeated his argument that recognition for Palestinian statehood was a reward for terrorism, stressing that the international pressure will not succeed. “It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan,” he said.
Right-wing parties in Israel have been pushing to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank since the government was formed almost three years ago. They have urged Netanyahu to seize the moment to respond to the recognition declarations by western states.
“The recognition by the UK, Canada and Australia of a Palestinian state as a prize for the murderous [Hamas] terrorists, requires immediate counter measures,” said national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party. He said he intends to raise the issue at the next cabinet meeting.
There is also widespread support for annexation from within Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. Transport minister Miri Regev, in a post on X on Sunday evening, said: “Sovereignty now! The land of Israel is ours, now and forever.”
Economy minister Nir Barkat, considered a moderate within the Likud ranks, argued that Israel’s response should include “the application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria”, using the Biblical term for the occupied West Bank.
However, Netanyahu is aware that any annexation will deepen Israel’s diplomatic isolation and further strain its relations with the Arab world.
Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates warned that such a move would jeopardise the Abraham Accords, the process launched during the first Trump administration where a number of Arab states normalised ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia has warned that annexation will jeopardise chances of Riyadh establishing relations with Israel. Egypt and Jordan, which both have peace treaties with Israel, have also warned against annexation.
It is hard to see Trump giving Netanyahu permission for even partial annexation given the opposition across the region.
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has warned Israel not to annex parts of the West Bank in retaliation for London’s recognition of a Palestinian state. Asked by the BBC on Monday if she was concerned Israel would use the British declaration as a pretext for annexing parts of the West Bank, Cooper said she has made it clear to her Israeli counterpart that he must not do so.
Another response reportedly being mulled by Israel is changing the status of area A of the West Bank - which is under Palestinian civilian control but Israeli security control - to match that of area C. Such a move would place it them under full Israeli military and civil control.
Israel has also been considering a series of potential sanctions against countries that recognise a Palestinian state, such as revoking entry permits to Ramallah for diplomats and a possible closure of consulates in Jerusalem.
