At least two officials in Donald Trump’s previous administration have warned senior Israeli ministers not to assume that the president-elect will support Israel annexing the West Bank in his second term, three sources familiar with the conversations told The Times of Israel.
Though the message was delivered in separate meetings and conversations held in the months leading up to Trump’s presidential election victory last week, far-right cabinet members did not seem deterred. On Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that 2025 would be “the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank],” thanks to Trump’s return to office, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir last week said that “this is the time for sovereignty.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel’s next ambassador to the US will be Yechiel Leiter, a former settler leader who has advocated for annexing large parts of the West Bank and against the establishment of a Palestinian state.