Trump made the comments as Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving in New York<\/a> to deliver an address to the United Nations on Friday.<\/p>\n There has been widespread speculation in Israel and elsewhere over how Netanyahu intends to retaliate for the recognition of Palestine as a state<\/a> earlier this week by the UK, Australia, France, Canada and Portugal.<\/p>\n Map shows area of Israeli and Palestinian territories, focusing on the occupied West Bank and East and West Jerusalem.<\/a><\/p>\n Officials in Jerusalem have said that anything Netanyahu does will be cleared first with Trump. Options include full annexation of the West Bank, or of smaller portions such as a strip of territory along the border with Jordan or shuttering British, French and other consulates in East Jerusalem, analysts said.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, British officials said they feared Trump would recognise Israeli control<\/a> over illegal settlements on the West Bank in retaliation<\/a> for the moves by the UK and others.<\/p>\n Arab and European leaders were engaged in an intensive lobbying operation to make sure he did not go through with the recognition of West Bank<\/a> settlements.<\/p>\n Netanyahu has faced significant pressure from far-right factions who are part of his ruling coalition to annex the West Bank, prompting alarm among Arab leaders, some of whom met on Tuesday with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n Arab and Muslim countries warned Trump about the grave consequences of any annexation of the West Bank<\/a> \u2013 a message the US president \u201cunderstands very well,\u201d according to Saudi Arabia\u2019s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.<\/p>\n Israeli settlements have grown in size and number since Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war and then imposed a military occupation. They stretch deep into the territory with a system of roads and other infrastructure under Israeli control, further slicing up the land. A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan known as the E1 project<\/a>, which would effectively bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval in August. It will cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.<\/p>\n Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist, said at the time that a Palestinian state was \u201cbeing erased from the table.\u201d<\/p>\n About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.<\/p>\n Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide strategic depth and security.<\/p>\n![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758915133_414_5616.jpg\")
Trump says he will ‘not allow’ Israel to annex the West Bank \u2013 video<\/p>\n