A UN General Assembly resolution endorsing the establishment of a Palestinian state has reignited calls inside Israel’s government to formally annex Judea and Samaria. Several ministers on Saturday night urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to respond decisively, describing the vote as a direct attack on Israel’s sovereignty.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees civilian affairs in the territory under the Defense Ministry, said Israel must counter what he called a “diplomatic assault” from abroad.
“The fact that a diplomatic attack on Israel is met with Israeli silence is unacceptable and cannot continue,” Smotrich said. “France and other countries are openly acting against Israel. Israel must apply sovereignty as a preventive measure against the reckless attempt to establish a terror state in the heart of our land.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin echoed the sentiment, denouncing the UN resolution as “a reward for terrorism.”
“The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” Levin declared. “Even the UN decision will not change that. It is time to apply sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. This is the appropriate Zionist response.”
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu dismissed the UN as irrelevant, charging that the organization had devolved from its 1947 role in recognizing Israel’s right to exist into “a circus that rewards murderers.”
“No invented state will arise for an invented people,” Eliyahu said. “There has never been a Palestinian state and there never will be.”
The United Nations voted 170-6 on “The Right of the Palestinian People to Self-Determination”.
Those voting against:
🇺🇸United States
🇮🇱Israel
🇦🇷Argentina
🇵🇾Paraguay
🇫🇲Micronesia
🇳🇷Nauru pic.twitter.com/MSAZQGUBLt— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 15, 2024
Netanyahu: “There will be no Palestinian state”
The ministers’ comments came days after Netanyahu appeared at a ceremony in Ma’ale Adumim, where he signed an “umbrella agreement” committing government funds to expand the city with two new neighborhoods and enlarge a third.
At the event, Netanyahu singled out the planned construction of a new neighborhood in the long-contested E1 corridor, an area viewed internationally as a barrier to Palestinian territorial contiguity.
“We said there will be no Palestinian state—indeed there will be no Palestinian state. This place is ours,” Netanyahu told the crowd.
E1 has remained largely undeveloped for decades, despite backing from every Israeli government since Yitzhak Rabin first advanced the plan in 1994. International opposition, particularly from Washington and European capitals, has repeatedly delayed building there.
A host of ministers—including Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, and Finance Ministry Minister Ze’ev Elkin—joined Netanyahu at the event, underscoring broad cabinet support for the expansion.
US Response: Respect for Israeli sovereignty, warning against recognition moves
While Washington has traditionally opposed unilateral annexation, recent statements by American officials have left room for Israeli initiative. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said last week that the United States “has never asked Israel not to apply sovereignty” in Judea and Samaria.
“I have repeatedly said that the United States respects Israel as a sovereign state and will not tell Israel what to do,” Huckabee told reporters, citing similar remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio, pressed on the matter during a separate briefing, described annexation talk as “something being discussed among some elements of Israeli politics” but stopped short of taking a position. Instead, he criticized European governments for considering unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“If you do this recognition stuff—it’s all fake, it’s not even real,” Rubio said. “If you do it, you’re going to create really big problems.”
Rubio is expected to arrive in Israel on September 14 for an official visit, where he will convey Washington’s priorities regarding the Israel-Hamas war and regional security. A State Department spokesperson said the trip would reaffirm “America’s unshakable commitment to Israel’s security.”
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