Vance says he was insulted by Israeli lawmakers’ “very stupid political stunt” on West Bank annexation

Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a vote by the Israeli parliament to advance a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling it “a very stupid political stunt.”

“I personally take some insult to it,” Vance said at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as he departed the country after his visit. “The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. 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.”

The preliminary vote Wednesday in support of Israeli annexation of the West Bank narrowly passed by 25 votes to 24, during Vance’s visit. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also criticized the vote on that bill and another narrower piece of annexation legislation, calling them “a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel.”

Netanyahu’s office noted that without his party’s support in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, “these bills are unlikely to go anywhere.”

The prime minister is facing a domestic political struggle to stave off an early national election, with some members of his far-right coalition government unhappy over the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which has held despite significant challenges over the weekend, with both sides accusing the other of violations.

Though many members of Netanyahu’s coalition support the Israeli annexation of the West Bank, they have dialed back their public calls for it since President Trump spoke out against the idea last month.

The wider annexation bill could only become law after at least two more rounds of voting in Israel’s 120 seat parliament, which it would be unlikely to survive.

Vance said he hoped an international security force would take over the task of disarming Hamas, which Israel and Mr. Trump have demanded as a key next step in the peace process. He said he also hoped reconstruction of areas in Gaza where Hamas is no longer operating could happen “fairly quickly.”

“This is all still pretty early, but that’s the basic idea,” Vance said Thursday. “Take the areas where Hamas is not operating, start to rebuild very quickly, start to bring in the Gazans so that they can live there, so they can have good jobs and hopefully some security and comfort, too, very quickly.”

Vance said he hoped that the southern city of Rafah could be rebuilt in two to three years.