This came in a letter signed by 14 ministers and ministers, sent to Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, and published by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on the X platform.
The signatories said in their letter: “We, ministers and members of Knesset, demand the immediate application of Israeli sovereignty (annexation) and law to Judea and Samaria (the biblical name for the West Bank).” They added: “It is time for the government to approve the decision to apply sovereignty (from today) until the end of the summer parliamentary session” on July 27.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, refusing to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
The signatories of the letter believed that "the strategic partnership and support from the United States and President (Donald) Trump create an opportune moment to push for the implementation of this step (annexation) now," and they believed that "the principle of settlement blocs and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the remaining land is an existential threat to Israel."
The letter was signed by the Ministers of Defense, Economy, Agriculture, Energy, Communications, Transportation, Justice, Tourism, Innovation, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports, Diaspora Affairs, Education, Social Equality, and Regional Cooperation, in addition to the Speaker of the Knesset.
Since the start of the Israeli war of extermination on the Gaza Strip in 2023, Tel Aviv has accelerated and expanded settlement activity in the West Bank, escalated talk of annexing it to Israel, and rejected the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The United Nations affirms that settlements in the occupied territories are "illegal," warns that they undermine the possibility of resolving the conflict according to the two-state solution, and has called on Israel for decades to halt them, to no avail.
On July 29, 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion affirming that Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is "illegal," emphasizing that international organizations, including the United Nations, are obligated not to recognize the situation arising from this illegal presence.
The Palestinian National Authority affirms that the West Bank is an integral part of Palestine and adheres to an independent state on the lands of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It stresses that these calls, which it said "contradict international legitimacy resolutions and international law, all of which affirm the necessity of ending the occupation from all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem."
Calls are escalating within Israel, the occupying power, to annex the West Bank, while Tel Aviv, with US support, has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
The genocide left more than 191,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
In parallel with the annihilation of Gaza, the Israeli occupation army and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 988 Palestinians and the injury of approximately 7,000 others, according to Palestinian data.
