TEL AVIV, July 23, 2025 (WAFA) – The Israeli Knesset on Wednesday voted in favor of a statement backing the imposition of "Israeli sovereignty" over the occupied West Bank. The vote marked the final item on the agenda before the Knesset's summer recess.
The proposal passed with a majority of 71 votes in favor and only 13 against. Members of all coalition parties voted in support, including lawmakers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which recently withdrew from the government.
The decision came as part of a “proposal on the agenda” initiated by right-wing Knesset members Simcha Rothman, Orit Strock, Dan Illouz, and Oded Forer, which was approved by the Knesset Presidency on Monday.
This move comes as part of the Israeli far-right’s efforts to solidify the status quo in the West Bank through new legislative measures, following the current government’s intensified colonial settlement projects and actions aimed at annexing large parts of the West Bank.
Although the statement is symbolic and non-binding, its sponsors are urging the government to take steps to implement sovereignty over the West Bank, with backing from members of both the coalition and opposition.
On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice affirmed Israel’s Unlawful Presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
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