Sa’ar says government against annexation bill at ‘this stage’; calls vote ‘political move by the opposition’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stresses that the government opposes the bill to annex parts of the West Bank that advanced in the Knesset yesterday, and is instead focused on US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict.

He called the vote on Wednesday “a political move of the opposition.”

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Sa’ar is asked about the Knesset’s preliminary approval of a bill that would apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements, alongside a separate proposal to annex a major settlement city. He is also asked about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warning today that the move could endanger Trump’s plan.

Sa’ar, who publicly floated the idea of annexing the settlements a month ago, responded that “the government hadn’t participated in the vote, and that demonstrates our approach.”

“That was a political move of the opposition to try to embarrass the government during the visit of [US] Vice President JD Vance,” he says. “But I can assure you that that was, as you know, a preliminary reading, and that will not go forward without the support of the Israeli government. That was not legislation that was brought to the Knesset by the government,” he stresses.

“As much as it’s our wish or aspiration, we have decided not to bring it [at] this stage to the Knesset, because now on the table, we have huge efforts to [do] everything that Trump’s plan will be successful, and we will invest in that,” the foreign minister concludes.