Netanyahu calls Knesset’s Judea and Samaria annexation bid a ‘deliberate provocation’

Without the coalition’s backing, the Prime Minister’s Office said, the bills have no practical chance of advancing.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Thursday harshly criticized the Knesset’s preliminary approval of two bills to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, labeling the move a “deliberate provocation” intended to coincide with US Vice President JD Vance’s visit.

According to the statement, the opposition had sought to embarrass the government while international attention was focused on Israel.

The preliminary vote this week, introduced by Avi Moaz of the Noam Party, to extend Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria passed 25-24. The second vote, presented by Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beyteinu Party, to apply sovereignty over the city of Ma’ale Adumim only, passed 32-9.

Neither the Likud nor its religious coalition partners supported the proposals, the statement said.

It noted that the legislation was introduced by opposition members and that the only Likud lawmaker to vote in favor of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria was Yuli Edelstein, who was recently dismissed as chairman of a Knesset committee.

Without the coalition’s backing, the Prime Minister’s Office said, the bills have no practical chance of advancing.

Coalition Chairman MK Ofir Katz announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the government to freeze all sovereignty-related legislation for now.

Katz said the order came after several coalition members broke ranks with Netanyahu’s stated position, allowing the bills to pass in their initial readings.

The legislation provoked an immediate reaction from Washington. Vice President JD Vance criticized the timing, calling the move “weird” and “a stupid political stunt,” adding that he felt personally insulted by it.

On the same day, Time magazine published an interview conducted the previous week with President Donald Trump, who said Israeli annexation “won’t happen.”

Trump warned that such a step would cost Israel American backing, noting, “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”