Before leaving Israel today, Vice President JD Vance condemned the Knesset‘s vote yesterday to advance a bill to annex the already occupied West Bank.
“That was weird. I was sort of confused by that,” Vance told reporters, adding that he had been told the move by Israel’s parliament amounted to “a symbolic vote.”
“Somebody told me that it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance, it was purely symbolic,” Vance said. “I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it.”
“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance continued. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. 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.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, told reporters before he left for Israel last night that the vote could jeopardize the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.