Knesset approves bill to apply Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank
According to the proposal, “the laws, judicial system, administration, and sovereignty of the State of Israel shall apply to all areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
The Knesset approved advancing a bill to apply Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank on Wednesday.
The bill is titled “Application of Israeli Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, 2025” and was initiated by MK Avi Maoz (Noam).
The vote passed by a narrow margin of 25-24 following a heated discussion in the Knesset. The bill will now be transferred to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where it will need to be brought for discussion before undergoing a second and third vote in the plenum.
The proposal for the bill stipulates that “the laws, judicial system, administration, and sovereignty of the State of Israel shall apply to all areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
Ahead of the vote, Maoz told the plenum, “By applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, we are correcting a historical wrong that is long overdue. Since the government has hesitated, it is our duty as Members of Knesset to act.”
MK Avi Maoz attends an Arrangements Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on June 21, 2021. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Maoz said on Wednesday that he had refused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for the discussion to be postponed and that he would proceed with going ahead with the vote regardless.
The timing of the vote on the bill coincides with US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel, where he met with Netanyahu on Thursday morning.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch told the plenum, “This government is the best one the settlement movement has ever had,” he said.
“The time for sovereignty legislation will also come; we will lead it together with our American partners,” he added.
Right-wing ministers have pushed for Israeli sovereignty in the entire area, drawing sharp criticism from leaders of various countries worldwide.
New sovereign status of the West Bank
The United Arab Emirates said in September that any annexation of the West Bank would severely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords, which are set to normalize relations between the two countries.
If the vote were not to pass, it could not be brought to the Knesset plenum for another six months. Identical bills were also submitted by other MKs in the past, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
An additional bill, titled “Application of Sovereignty in Ma’aleh Adumim,” also passed by 32-9. It was initiated by MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu).
In July, the Knesset approved a declaratory resolution in support of “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.” However, it did not have any operational or legislative consequences.
According to Israeli law, the current status of the territories it captured from Jordan in the Six Day War, save for east Jerusalem, is that of a “temporary belligerent occupation,” and the legal governor of the territories is the IDF Central Command’s commanding officer.
During the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s, the territories were split into three different designations – Area A, chiefly Palestinian towns and cities that are under full security and civilian control of the PA; Area B, which is under Israel’s security control but the Palestinians’ civil control; and Area C, which is under Israeli security and civilian control.
Israel’s approximately 500,000 settlers reside primarily in Area C. Israel views the majority of its settlements as legal under domestic law, built on state land, and according to legally viable government decisions.
A majority of international organizations view the settlements as a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which outlaws settling civilians in conquered territory.
Israel has said in its defense that Israeli citizens were neither deported nor transferred to the territories, and that the territory is not occupied since there had been no internationally recognized legal sovereign there prior. In 2024, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an advisory opinion that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was no longer temporary and therefore unlawful under international law.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.
