NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that a vote by Israeli lawmakers to annex the West Bank was a “very stupid political stunt.”
A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which effectively would annex the territory for Israel, passed a vote Wednesday in Israel’s parliament as Vance was visiting the country, according to Reuters. It was the first of four votes needed for the proposal to become law. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party did not back the legislation, which was pushed by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition, the news agency added.
“That was weird. I was sort of confused by that,” Vance told reporters on Thursday when asked about the vote. “Now I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote, some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is when I asked about it, somebody told me it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance, it was purely symbolic.”
“I mean look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance added. “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.”
JD VANCE SAYS PSAKI’S REMARK ABOUT HIS WIFE WAS ‘DISGRACEFUL’
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press conference following a military briefing at the Civilian Military Coordination Center on Oct. 21, 2025, in Kiryat Gat, Israel. (Pool/Getty Images/Nathan Howard)
Following Vance’s comments, a top member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced Thursday that the Israeli prime minister told him not to advance proposals regarding the annexation of the West Bank, according to Israeli media.
“The…
