Fifteen cabinet ministers from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, along with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, have signed a petition calling for the annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank before the Israeli parliament’s upcoming recess at the end of the month.
The petition comes ahead of Netanyahu’s expected meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, where talks will reportedly focus on a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal with Hamas.
The ministers urged the government to immediately apply Israeli sovereignty and law to Judea and Samaria—the biblical terms used by many in Israel to refer to the West Bank, which was captured during the 1967 Middle East war.
The petition cited what it called recent strategic gains against Iran and its regional allies, as well as Israel’s deepening alignment with the United States under President Trump, as a window of opportunity to act.
“The task must be completed, the existential threat removed from within, and another massacre in the heart of the country must be prevented,” the petition stated, referencing the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
However, there was no immediate response from Netanyahu’s office, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close aide to the prime minister currently in Washington for talks on Iran and Gaza, did not sign the petition.
The international community widely views Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law, arguing that they fragment Palestinian territory and hinder the establishment of a contiguous, sovereign Palestinian state—a core goal of decades-long Middle East peace efforts.
The move signals growing confidence among pro-settler Israeli politicians, who feel emboldened by Trump’s return to power and his administration’s previous support for Israeli sovereignty claims over disputed territories. Trump’s recent suggestions that Palestinians should leave Gaza have drawn sharp regional and international criticism.
