Middle East Policy

In an Axios interview published Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he is "against annexation" when asked about new Israeli measures that expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority. The comments come days after Israel’s security cabinet approved policies that U.S. officials say move toward de facto annexation by easing Jewish settler land purchases and allowing Israeli police to demolish homes in Palestinian Authority–run zones in violation of the Oslo Accords. Trump did not address the specific steps but said, "We have enough things to think about now. We don't need to be dealing with the West Bank," even though his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff previously asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December to de‑escalate there. U.S. officials told Axios they are concerned about the cabinet’s decision, still studying its implications, and argue that a "stable West Bank" is essential to Israeli security and the administration’s stated goal of regional peace. Netanyahu is due in Washington on Wednesday for talks expected to center on Iran, and it is unclear whether Trump or his team will press him on the West Bank moves, which further erode prospects for a Palestinian state.