By Zein Khalil and Mohammad Sio
JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL (AA) – Fourteen ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party called on the premier on Wednesday evening to immediately annex the occupied West Bank.
In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and shared by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on X, the signatories called on the government “to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which concludes on July 27.
The ministers argued that the current “strategic partnership and backing and support of the US and President Donald Trump create a favorable time to lead this move (annexation) now.”
The letter also warned that recognizing settlement blocs while establishing a Palestinian state on the remaining land poses an “existential threat to Israel.”
Among the signatories were the ministers of defense, economy, agriculture, energy, communications, transportation, justice, tourism, innovation, culture, diaspora affairs, education, social equality, regional cooperation, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.