U.S. Vice President JD Vance decried a vote that cleared a preliminary reading at the Knesset, meaning that the bill, which calls for extending Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, now moves to committee before even a first reading in front of the legislative body.
“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” Vance told reporters on the tarmac, prior to flying to Shannon, Ireland.
“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance said, using a term that many in the Trump administration eschew, preferring instead to use the biblical language Judea and Samaria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced opposition parties and members of his own party over the vote. The votes were “a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord” during Vance’s visit to Israel, Netanyahu said.
In the press gaggle, Vance also said that the “whole purpose” of his visit to Israel was to “try to understand how to make the peace stick, how to move on to phase two successfully and a big part of that is just understanding what would be necessary to police and secure Gaza,” per the pool report.
Vance and counterparts made progress on “‘what the composition’ of the international security force would be and ‘what would be necessary for it to actually be effective,’” per the pool. “He did not say which countries would be involved.”
The U.S. vice president didn’t say if Netanyahu ruled out Turkish troops or those of other countries being involved in Gaza. “I wouldn’t say that he ruled it out,” Vance said, per the pool. “He obviously has strong views on some counties, negative, and strong views on other countries, positive.”
Vance predicted “little breakouts of violence” in Gaza during the ceasefire. “Our message to the Israelis has been, ‘Help us build this peace,’” he said.
