It will not happen. It will not happen. It will not happen, because I have promised the Arab countries, says Trump in the interview with Time Magazine.
The interview was made on October 15 but was published on Thursday.
Israel would lose all its support from the US if it happened, says the president.
”Counterproductive”
Also Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance warn Israel against such a measure.
We believe it can be counterproductive, said Rubio before his visit to Israel.
On Wednesday, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, voted to take two legislative proposals to annex the occupied West Bank further. The proposals will now be discussed in the foreign and defense committees before two more rounds of voting.
If the legislative proposals go through, it can be fatal to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which Trump has been involved in negotiating, warns Marco Rubio.
I think the president has been clear that it is not something we can support right now. It can be a threat to the peace agreement.
”Very stupid”
Also the American Vice President JD Vance criticizes the legislative proposals in connection with his departure from Israel on Thursday.
The West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. (...) If people want to hold symbolic votes, they can do it, but we were really not happy about it, says Vance and calls it all "strange" and "very stupid".
Several Arab and Islamic states have expressed that an annexation of the West Bank is a boundary they will not allow Israel to pass.
In a statement from the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry, the outcome of the Knesset's vote is condemned, which according to the Saudis aims to ”legitimize Israeli sovereignty over an illegal colonial settlement”.
