Settler leaders and far-right government ministers renewed public pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex parts of the West Bank and not end the war in Gaza without the total military defeat of Hamas, in an attempt to counteract American pressure on both issues.
US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” comments that were rejected by right-wing Israeli lawmakers.
And the Trump administration has drafted a 21-point plan, obtained by The Times of Israel, to end the war and free all the hostages, while encouraging Palestinians to remain in the Strip, removing Hamas from power, and creating a pathway toward a future Palestinian state.
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Wednesday he expected a breakthrough related to Gaza in the coming days. Witkoff noted that Trump had presented his ideas during a meeting with Arab and Islamic countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly earlier in the week.
But the plan’s creation of a potential pathway to a future Palestinian state could well be a red line for Netanyahu, who has long campaigned on having prevented a two-state solution. The premier told the UN General Assembly on Friday: “Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11th. This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it… Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats.”
Ahead of Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump on Monday, the premier and his team are expecting that Israel will have to make “painful and significant” concessions under the American plan, Channel 12 news reported Saturday, without citing sources.
These include concessions that would “contradict Israel’s stated policy and the decisions taken by the cabinet in recent weeks,” particularly regarding the plan’s call for the gradual expansion of Palestinian Authority involvement in postwar Gaza, according to the network.
The report added that the US was currently exerting “heavy pressure” on Qatar to push Hamas to agree to the details of Trump’s plan in the coming days, in an effort to shift the diplomatic demands entirely onto Netanyahu and Israel.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that Netanyahu had voiced dissatisfaction to Trump advisers with some of the plan’s provisions, particularly the one envisioning an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority in ruling Gaza.
The outlet added, however, that sources close to the premier had said the majority of the plan is acceptable to Israel, and that a final agreement can be reached.
In an apparent attempt to counteract the external pressure, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on X Saturday that Netanyahu “has no mandate to end the war without the complete defeat of Hamas.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, according to Channel 12, laid out three key demands in relation to the Trump peace plan: that there be no role for the Palestinian Authority in governing Gaza or the West Bank; that Hamas be completely dismantled and disarmed; and that Israel annex parts of the West Bank without recognizing a Palestinian state.
Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism party, has long opposed Palestinian statehood and has pressed for extending Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and Gaza, where he has called for renewed Israeli settlement.
Some other politicians allied with the premier, however, stressed the need to wrap up the almost two-year war.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tweeted that, while he trusts Netanyahu to “represent Israel’s interests in the talks with President Trump,” he also believes that “the distinct Israeli interest is to end the war and achieve its goals.”
Degel Hatorah faction chief Moshe Gafni of the United Torah Judaism party, which has left the government and coalition but isn’t acting to topple the government, said his faction supports “ending the war and returning the hostages.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid reiterated his longtime point that he is willing to give Netanyahu’s government a safety net in order to reach a hostage deal and end the war even if Ben Gvir and Smotrich threaten to bring down the government over the matter.
Meanwhile, the Yesha Council settlement umbrella group was sending an “emergency delegation” to the United States to meet Netanyahu before the latter’s meeting with Trump.
The West Bank mayors, council heads and other officials were set to tell the premier that the territory should be under full Israeli sovereignty, and that the decision was his alone, despite Trump’s remark that he wouldn’t allow annexation.
“Only sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is victory,” said Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan in a statement by the Yesha Council, using the biblical name of the West Bank. “Disagreements can also happen between friends, and Netanyahu is precisely the one who can stand up and tell the United States that this is what is good for the nation of Israel.”
“We strengthen the prime minister in the face of the heavy pressure,” said Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun. “The decision whether to extend sovereignty is in his hands alone, not in anyone else’s.”