Smotrich: Trump will change his mind about annexing the West Bank news

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Saturday that he is “completely convinced” that US President Donald Trump will change his mind on the issue of annexing the occupied West Bank.

This came in a blog post by Smotrich on the X platform, commenting on Trump’s opposition to the Israeli Knesset (Parliament)’s preliminary approval on Wednesday of two draft laws regarding Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.

Trump said in an interview with the American “Time” magazine on Thursday that Israel’s annexation of the West Bank “will not happen because I promised the Arab countries that it would,” warning that Tel Aviv “will completely lose the support of the United States if that happens.”

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party have historically promoted the annexation of the West Bank, he announced Thursday, following an American rejection of the move, that his party did not support the two draft annexation laws.

Following these developments, Smotrich said in his blog post, “I am convinced that just as in the issue of the prisoners, President (Trump), who is a true friend of Israel, will change his mind when he understands the importance of Israel’s sovereignty over the lands of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank),” according to his claim.

He pointed out that Netanyahu “previously convinced Trump of the importance of returning detainees (in reference to concluding a ceasefire agreement in Gaza according to the US President’s plan), but he did not show the same insistence on the issue of sovereignty.”

He added, “Right-wing supporters and settlers must continue to demand the annexation of West Bank lands until the United States realizes that true support for Israel means supporting annexation and rejecting the Palestinian state.”

The Israeli minister claimed that Netanyahu, who was involved in the detainees campaign and repeatedly explained to the president the importance of returning them, does not do so with regard to sovereignty and refrains from raising it in his talks with President Trump.

He continued, “I have no blame for President Trump, who gave up sovereignty very easily and sold it to the Arab countries in exchange for an agreement in Gaza, and perhaps also to expand the Abraham Accords.”

Smotrich claimed that Trump “until now had no way of knowing how important the issue (annexation of the West Bank) is to the Israeli people and to what extent standing by Israel means supporting the application of sovereignty.”

Israel’s annexation of the West Bank would end the possibility of implementing the principle of the two-state solution, stipulated in the relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

The State of Palestine is recognized by at least 160 countries out of the 193 members of the United Nations.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, in a move considered a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law, and refuses to withdraw from it and establish an independent Palestinian state.