Lapid: US pressure has led Netanyahu to abandon ‘destructive’ West Bank policy

By Sam Sokol 18 November 2025, 12:07 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on July 28, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

American pressure has led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back away from his policy of delinking the West Bank from Gaza, declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

“Under American pressure, Netanyahu announced this morning that he accepts the UN Security Council resolution that includes the principle of ‘unification of the fronts,'” Lapid says in a statement.

“For years Netanyahu tried to separate Gaza from the West Bank, and from that grew the destructive policy of strengthening and funding Hamas while turning a blind eye to its armament. It was a terrible strategic mistake, and it’s good that the Americans have put an end to it. The most right-wing government in the country’s history is officially abandoning annexation and setting out principles for cooperation with the Palestinian Authority,” he adds.

Netanyahu earlier welcomed the UN Security Council’s vote yesterday to adopt a US-sponsored resolution authorizing the establishment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, saying the plan will help end Hamas rule and broaden normalization.

In rallying support for the initiative, the US organized a joint statement on Friday that said Trump’s plan offers a pathway to a future Palestinian state. The language raised some eyebrows, as it goes further than the actual text of the 20-point plan, which only says that it “may” provide for such a result.

The tightening of the language, likely needed to get additional countries on board, infuriated Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, who issued a flood of statements pledging not to allow Palestinian statehood, leading the premier to do the same on Sunday, even though the joint statement wasn’t binding.

Netanyahu did verbally accept the 20-point plan when it was unveiled by Trump during the premier’s visit to the White House in September. But the actual ceasefire agreement signed by Israel and Hamas was a separate document that only focused on the truce, Israel’s initial withdrawal, the hostage-prisoner swap terms and humanitarian aid provisions.