The Israeli parliament’s preliminary approval of a bill to apply sovereignty over all West Bank settlements has reopened one of the most charged debates in the country’s history — whether Israel’s right to the land should bow to diplomatic caution. The motion, formally titled the Application of Israeli Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, 2025, passed by a single vote, 25-24, during US Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Jerusalem. The outcome defied a direct request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the session, unsettling both Washington and parts of his own coalition.
When Trump says there will be no annexation by Israel, Israel must follow. The timing was especially antagonizing, since the vice president was still here and considered it an insult
“This sent the wrong message to Trump,” said Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities, speaking with The Media Line. “When Trump says there will be no annexation by Israel, Israel must follow. The timing was especially antagonizing, since the vice president was still here and considered it an insult.”
Nineteen of the 25 votes in favor came from coalition lawmakers. Among them were members of Noam, Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, as well as Likud parliamentarian Yuli Edelstein, who defied his party’s instructions and provided the deciding vote. Most opposition members voted against the bill. Netanyahu later accused the opposition of orchestrating “a political provocation,” yet the official vote record contradicted him. The push for sovereignty came from within his own government, not from its rivals.
Speaking with The Media Line, Israeli lawmaker Avi Maoz, the bill’s sponsor and leader of the conservative Noam party, rejected claims that the move was intended to provoke or embarrass. For him, the issue is not tactical but sacred.
“It begins with our covenant with God,” Maoz said. “Three thousand seven hundred years ago, the Almighty gave us the Torah and promised this land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was the kingdom of David and Solomon. It is our homeland, and we have returned here by divine grace. It is our duty to apply sovereignty to all of it — including Judea and Samaria.”
Maoz said the bill is not symbolic but a continuation of Israel’s unfinished process of nationhood.
The nations of the world will never agree that we legislate in Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as a suitable moment, and therefore we must act according to our own interests
“When Jerusalem and the Golan Heights were brought under Israeli law, it was never the ‘right time’ either,” he said. “The nations of the world will never agree that we legislate in Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as a suitable moment, and therefore we must act according to our own interests.”
He explained that the legislative process began months earlier and that he acted within coalition agreements.
“I submitted it more than three months ago,” Maoz said. “Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Coalition Chair Ofir Katz asked me to wait until after the recess, and I agreed. Then, the night before the vote, the prime minister called and asked me to delay again. I told him that there will never be a perfect time. If not now, when?”
Maoz recalled an earlier experience from his time as director general of the Housing Ministry.
“When we planned 5,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria, the British ambassador said the timing was not right,” he said. “Natan Sharansky replied, ‘Fine, tell me when it will be right.’ We are still waiting for that day. I learned that for the world, it is never the right time.”
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The bill now goes to the parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for discussion before three additional readings. Maoz said he expects to refine its language to “ensure the broadest possible support,” though he insists its purpose is already clear.
“This is about truth and sovereignty,” he said. “The State of Israel has the right to decide its future without waiting for approval from anyone.”
Washington reacted swiftly. Vice President Vance, speaking before his departure, called the vote “a stupid political stunt” and said he was “offended” that it took place during his visit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated that “the administration will not support any annexation at this stage.” Hours later, President Donald Trump set a new red line, telling Time magazine that “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened,” adding, “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries.”
Trump’s remarks linked Israel’s actions to the broader regional structure created under his 20-point Gaza plan and the renewed cooperation with Arab states.
“If we didn’t take Iran out, we wouldn’t have signed the ceasefire deal,” he said. “There would have been many Arab countries that just could not have done that.”
Any annexation would fracture the regional alignment President Trump personally built, turning Israel’s domestic politics into a potential threat to his foreign policy legacy.
Maoz, however, was unfazed: “The president must say what he has to say, and we must do what we must do,” he said. “With all the respect and gratitude we have for America, Israel is a sovereign state. The Knesset has the authority to legislate according to our interests.”
He expressed frustration with what he described as “foreign supervision” over Israel’s conduct.
“Two hundred American officers are now stationed in Kiryat Gat, overseeing implementation of the agreements,” Maoz said. “Vice President Vance came, Marco Rubio came, and more will come. We are grateful for America’s friendship, but Israel is not a protectorate.”
He also confirmed that he deliberately chose not to attend President Trump’s address to the Israeli parliament earlier this month.
“Out of respect, I didn’t sit in the plenum during his speech,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to think that this vote was coordinated with Washington or that it was an act of rebellion. I listened later and appreciate the president’s friendship deeply, but Israel’s sovereignty must be determined by the Knesset, not by diplomatic optics.”
The vote exposed deeper cracks within the coalition. Maoz commended Likud’s Yuli Edelstein for “acting according to conscience” and criticized the ultra-Orthodox Shas party for missing what he called “a historic opportunity to correct the mistake of supporting the Oslo Accords.” Yet despite the disagreements, he spoke respectfully of Netanyahu.
“I admire the prime minister,” he said. “He has led Israel with courage and wisdom, but this time I had to say ‘no.’ I believe that when the bill returns for its first reading, more coalition members — and even some from the opposition — will support it.”
Gilboa, observing from an academic perspective, said the problem runs deeper than a single vote.
“Trump and his people couldn’t care less about Smotrich or Ben-Gvir,” he said. “They care about Netanyahu’s ability to lead rather than to be led. What they saw this week was exactly the opposite.” He noted that “never in the history of relations between the two sides has American supervision been so direct or so intensive.”
The State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people,” he said. “Just as America would never give up Alaska or Hawaii, we cannot give up Judea and Samaria. If we stand firm, the world will eventually accept it
For Maoz, the dispute is less about diplomacy than about destiny: “Our conflict with the Arabs is not about land, it is about faith,” he said. “Hamas called its war ‘the Flood of al-Aqsa,’ not ‘the Flood of the West Bank.’ They fight over Jerusalem, over holiness. We must stand firm in our belief.”
He said Palestinians who reject violence could live under Israeli administration with full residency rights but without representation in parliament.
“Those who want peace can stay and work here and vote for local authorities,” Maoz said. “But Israel must remain the nation-state of the Jewish people. That is its essence.”
As the bill moves through committee and Washington’s warnings grow sharper, the dispute has become a mirror of Israel’s internal struggle over identity and control. In a region now reshaped by American diplomacy, the sovereignty debate has turned into a test of political maturity. Maoz believes the outcome will define not only his movement but Israel’s future character.
“The State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people,” he said. “Just as America would never give up Alaska or Hawaii, we cannot give up Judea and Samaria. If we stand firm, the world will eventually accept it.”
