Trump's former adviser has not ruled out that the incoming president may come to support the annexation of the West Bank – but has emphasized that it should not be taken for granted, according to an Israeli official to The Times of Israel.
The message has, according to the information, been conveyed in various meetings and conversations during the months preceding Trump's election victory last week, but it does not seem to have had a deterrent effect. On Monday, Israel's ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, following Donald Trump's victory, that Israel is "one step away from applying sovereignty in the settlements in Judea and Samaria".
Last week, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, also from the far-right, said "it's time for sovereignty".
Recently, Israel announced that the country's next ambassador to the US will be Yechiel Leiter, who has advocated for the annexation of large parts of the West Bank.
The EU's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell is directing harsh criticism at Bezalel Smotrich.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms Minister Smotrich's call to 'apply sovereignty' on the West Bank, a clear step towards illegal annexation. Such rhetoric undermines international law, violates the Palestinians' rights, and threatens any possible opportunity for a two-state solution", Borrell writes in a post on X.
