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Trump’s ‘No West Bank Annexation’ Veto Isn’t What It Sounds Like, Expert Says
US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Israelis were divided after US President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he would not allow annexation of the West Bank, with some warning that blocking sovereignty could endanger national security and even risk another attack similar to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, while others argued the decision spared the country a costly international confrontation.
But legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich told The Algemeiner that Trump’s wording was being misunderstood, and that his remarks may still leave space for Israel to extend partial sovereignty in the West Bank, part of the ancestral Jewish homeland where the Palestinian Authority (PA) exercises limited self-governance.
Right-wing lawmakers, many of whom entered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on promises of sovereignty, condemned Trump’s remarks as outside interference and urged Netanyahu to press ahead regardless.
“Israel is a sovereign state. No international actor, even a great beloved friend, can dictate to us how to treat our land,” Likud MK Dan Illouz said.
Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionism party argued that sovereignty “does not depend on any external factor, however friendly.” Another unnamed senior official went further, telling Hebrew media that Trump’s remarks amounted to “a real terror attack.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he had also vetoed the idea of annexation in a closed-door conversation with Netanyahu.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. It’s not going to happen,” he said. “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
Kontorovich, who has long argued that the debate is being mischaracterized, noted that the term “annexation” itself is misleading.
“Annexation implies taking territory that isn’t yours,” he told The Algemeiner. “What Israel has discussed is applying its civil law to parts of Area C in the West Bank that are already under Israeli jurisdiction. The Israeli government has made it clear it is not talking about diminishing the territory governed by the Palestinian Authority.”
Area C is the portion of the West Bank where Israel assumed full civilian and military control after the Oslo Accords, an agreement between Israeli and Palestinian authorities, three decades ago.
Trump’s comments on Thursday, Kontorovich argued, were not necessarily incompatible with Israeli mainstream positions.
“The most literal understanding of Trump’s remarks is that he doesn’t want Israel to take over the entire West Bank. Since nobody is talking about that, it leaves room for other possibilities,” Kontorovich said.
Kontorovich suggested that applying Israeli law to major settlement blocs would be “a meaningful way to push back on the extremely harmful and dangerous British and French diplomatic efforts” to recognize a Palestinian state, while also improving Israel’s security “in a way that will redound to American benefit.”
Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren struck a more cautious note in comments to The Algemeiner, noting that Trump had “long opposed annexation of all or part” of the West Bank, but added that “annexation would be a justifiable response to the Palestinian Authority’s violation of its commitment under the Oslo Accords not to unilaterally change the status of the territories.” He echoed Kontorovich’s view that “annexation can certainly help meet Israel’s security needs.”
However, Oren warned that, “increasingly isolated internationally and facing serious threats of sanctions, Israel is extremely dependent on Trump’s support. We must be careful not to jeopardize it.”
Notably, both Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have long promoted annexation and even branded 2025 as “the year of sovereignty,” did not respond publicly to Trump’s remarks. Days earlier, however, Smotrich echoed Illouz, saying, “The days when other nations decided our future are over.”
Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, argued that only formal sovereignty could prevent the emergence of a “terrorist state” in the West Bank.
“[Netanyahu] must tell Trump: We will not allow another Oct. 7 — I am applying sovereignty,” he said prior to Trump’s comments.
Kontorovich, who is a senior research fellow at the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation, also emphasized deterrence.
“Right now, Palestinian terrorists think that committing an Oct. 7 attack is a net winner. To discourage that, you need to create a disincentive, and an Israeli application of sovereignty to parts of the West Bank is a way of doing that,” he said.
Some voices on the political right offered a different take. Israel Hayom columnist Ariel Kahana wrote that Trump “saved Israel from itself,” arguing that such a move at this point could trigger severe diplomatic and economic consequences. He added that Trump’s decision now gives Netanyahu a “crushing answer” to coalition partners who keep pressing for sovereignty.
Kahana faulted the settlement movement for not offering a trade of shelving sovereignty in exchange for France – which led European nations in recognizing a Palestinian state at the UN — dropping its recognition of “Palestine,” saying Israel is now left with the worst of both outcomes: recognition of a Palestinian state abroad and no sovereignty at home.
Both Trump and Netanyahu lambasted the decision by a handful of Western countries — including France, the UK, Canada, and Australia — to officially recognize a Palestinian state, describing the move as a reward for Hamas’s terrorism and an invitation for Palestinians to continue waging war against Israel. Neither leader addressed the issue of potential West Bank annexation during their addresses to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.
After his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, during which he declared recognition of a Palestinian state, French President Emmanuel Macron told France24 that when it came to the West Bank “the Europeans and the Americans are on the same page,” adding that “annexation was a red line for the US.”
Macron further warned that annexation would carry “grave consequences” for Israel and has made it clear that Paris sees a ban on sovereignty moves as essential to keeping the two-state option of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive.
Ynet analysts reached a similar conclusion to Kahana, noting that Trump’s declaration “in some sense helps Netanyahu with his base and the extremists in his government,” since it relieves him of rejecting coalition demands directly.
Emirati officials told Washington earlier this month that annexation would inflict serious damage on the Abraham Accords and threaten the entire framework of Gulf-Israel ties. The UAE, which signed a normalization deal with Israel during Trump’s first term, has consistently viewed annexation as a major violation of the bargains that underpinned that agreement.
Israeli journalist and commentator Yair Sherki stressed that this is precisely why Trump cannot allow annexation to proceed. Even if Netanyahu were prepared to risk the Abraham Accords for sovereignty, Sherki noted, Trump will not — because the accords are his own signature achievement in the region.
Sherki added that postponement of a sovereignty declaration until after Netanyahu meets Trump on the sidelines of the UN “signals a fizzling out. If it doesn’t happen by the end of the [Sukkot] holidays, it won’t happen.”
Kontorovich concluded that applying Israeli civil law to the Jordan Valley — an area with virtually no Palestinian presence and long supported even by centrist and left-leaning lawmakers — could be one such option. “If Israel applies its civil law to the Jordan Valley, I don’t think anyone could say that it annexed the West Bank,” he said.
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Sydney Teen Arrested for Knife Attack on Jewish Man Amid Surge in Antisemitic Hate Crimes
Demonstrators hold a placard as they take part in the ‘Nationwide March for Palestine’ protest in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
A teenage boy in Sydney has been arrested for allegedly attacking a Jewish man at knifepoint on a train — the latest antisemitic incident in a troubling rise of anti-Jewish hate crimes across Australia.
On Wednesday, the New South Wales Police confirmed that a 16-year-old boy was charged earlier this week over the antisemitic knifepoint assault of a Jewish man on a train.
According to police reports, two assailants approached a 66-year-old Jewish man as he neared the train doors. They allegedly attacked him with a knife while shouting antisemitic remarks before fleeing the scene.
Shortly after the attack, the man was given medical attention on-site, though no major injuries were reported, before filing a formal police report.
NSW Police arrested the 16-year-old in Padstow, a suburb in Sydney’s southwest, but authorities are still searching for the second attacker as the investigation continues.
He was charged with intent to commit an indictable offense, common assault, publicly threatening violence based on religion, and intentionally intimidating someone to cause fear of physical harm.
As of now, the teenager remains in custody, having been denied bail and arraigned in a children’s court on Wednesday.
Antisemitism spiked to record levels in Australia — especially in Sydney and Melbourne, which are home to some 85 percent of the country’s Jewish population — following the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
According to a report from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the country’s Jewish community experienced over 2,000 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, a significant increase from 495 in the prior 12 months.
The number of antisemitic physical assaults in Australia rose from 11 in 2023 to 65 in 2024. The level of antisemitism for the past year was six times the average of the preceding 10 years.
Since the Oct. 7 atrocities, the local Jewish community has faced a wave of targeted attacks, with several Jewish sites across Australia subjected to vandalism and even arson amid an increasingly hostile climate.
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UN Sanctions on Iran Loom After Vote to Delay Fails
Members of the United Nations Security Council vote against a resolution by Russia and China to delay by six months the reimposition of sanctions on Iran during the 80th UN General Assembly in New York City, US, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
United Nations sanctions on Iran are set to be reimposed on Saturday, Britain’s UN envoy said on Friday after a Russian and Chinese Security Council resolution to delay them failed, prompting Tehran to warn that the West bore responsibility for any consequences.
The decision to restore sanctions by Western powers is likely to exacerbate tensions with Tehran, which has already warned that the action would be met with a harsh response and open the door to escalation.
The Russian and Chinese push to delay the return of sanctions on Iran failed at the 15-member UN Security Council after only four countries supported their draft resolution.
“This council does not have the necessary assurance that there is a clear path to a swift diplomatic solution,” Britain’s envoy to the United Nations, Barbara Wood, said after the vote.
“This council fulfilled the necessary steps of the snapback process set out in resolution 2231, therefore UN sanctions targeting Iranian proliferation will be reimposed this weekend,” she said.
UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS RETURN ON SATURDAY
All UN sanctions on Iran are due to return at 8 pm EDT on Saturday (0000 GMT) after European powers, known as the E3, triggered a 30-day process accusing Tehran of violating a 2015 deal meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Diplomats had said the resolution to delay sanctions for six months had been unlikely to pass, after last-ditch talks between Iran and Britain, France, and Germany failed to break a deadlock.
Nine countries voted no, while two abstained.
Russia’s deputy envoy to the United Nations accused the Western powers of burying the diplomatic path.
US BETRAYED DIPLOMACY, E3 BURIED IT, IRAN SAYS
“The US has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the council, saying the snapback was “legally void, politically reckless, and procedurally flawed.”
“Diplomacy will never die, but it will be more difficult and more complicated than before,” he told reporters after the Security Council meeting.
The European powers had offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months to allow space for talks on a long-term deal if Iran restored access for UN nuclear inspectors, addressed concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engaged in talks with the United States.
The US representative at the council said Iran had failed to address E3 concerns meaning a return of sanctions was inevitable, although she left the door open for diplomacy.
France said the return of sanctions was not the end of diplomacy.
UN sanctions would come into force immediately on Saturday, while European Union sanctions would return next week.
Iran’s economy is already struggling with crippling sanctions reimposed since 2018 after US President Donald Trump ditched the pact during his first term.
The sanctions would restore an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities, and would also hit its energy sector.
Addressing the UN General Assembly earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country bombed Iran’s nuclear installations with the United States in June, said the world should not allow Iran to rebuild its nuclear and military programs.
“We lifted a dark cloud that could have claimed millions and millions of lives, but ladies and gentlemen, we must remain vigilant,” Netanyahu told the General Assembly on Friday.
“We must not allow Iran to rebuild its military nuclear capacities, Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. These stockpiles must be eliminated, and tomorrow UN Security Council sanctions on Iran must be snapped back,” he said.
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K-12 Union Antisemitism Is Politicizing Classrooms, New Report Says
Illustrative: A pro-Hamas demonstrator uses a bullhorn during a protest at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on March 11, 2025. Photo: Daniel Cole via Reuters Connect.
Public sector education unions have turned K-12 classrooms into theaters of anti-Zionist agitation, thereby alienating Jewish teachers and students, according to a new report by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI).
Titled, “Breaking Solidarity: How Antisemitic Activists Turned Teacher Unions Against Israel”, the report examines several major teachers unions and their escalation of anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish activity following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel — a series of actions which included attempting to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), staging protests in which teachers led chants of “Death to Israel,” and teaching students that Israel constitutes an “settler-colonial” state which perpetrates ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
In New York City, report author Paul Zimmerman writes, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has advanced from fostering popular support for anti-Zionism among students to seeking cover from government by placing one or more of its fellow travelers in high office. The UFT endorsed the New York City mayoral candidacy of Zohran Mamdani in July, calling the avowed socialist and Hamas sympathizer a potential “partner.”
“The historical record shows that, whatever their shortcomings, previous generations of teacher-union leaders stood up to antisemitism in K-12 schools on behalf of their Jewish members and promoted strong US support for Israel in the face of existential attacks on that country,” the report states. “Now, antisemitic activists grossly dishonor that legacy by weaponizing teacher unions to spread antisemitism, intimidate Jewish teachers, and recast the classroom as a battlefield against the West.”
Zimmerman outlines three concepts for reforming union conduct, reserving a significant role for the US Congress, which holds the power to investigate the union bosses and subpoena them before its relevant committees. He also calls on teachers to register their opposition by withholding compulsory union dues which ply union leadership with both resources and legitimacy.
“In the end, however, the millions of teachers who want no part in indoctrinating their students in anti-Western ideology — including antisemitism — or supporting unions that care more for supporting radical candidates and causes than making schools safe for Jewish educators and students must vote with their feet,” he concludes. “These teachers. who simply wish to help their students learn about the world and lead productive and meaningful lives, should consider abandoning their unions and cutting off the dues that subsidize this ugly agenda.”
Union antisemitism is receiving increased national attention, as previously reported by The Algemeiner.
On Monday, Jewish students employed as graduate workers by Columbia University filed a federal complaint against their campus labor union — Student Workers of Columbia, an affiliate of United Auto Workers (UAW) — alleging that its bosses devote more energy and resources to pursuing “radical policy proposals” than improving occupational conditions.
The National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), a nonprofit organization which fights for worker mobility and freedom of representation that is providing the students legal counsel free of charge, said in a release shared with The Algemeiner that the students, who have formed the advocacy group Graduate Researchers Against Discrimination and Suppression (GRADS), are subjected to abuses which magnify problems inherent in compulsory union membership — chiefly that they may be forced to accept as representatives of their interests union bosses who act in “bad faith” and hold offensive beliefs.
NRTW pointed to another similar example in August, writing in a letter to the US Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce that higher-education-based unions controlled by United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) are rife with antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination.
“Tracing its roots to communism in the 1930s, the UE is a radical, pro-Hamas labor union that has a long history of antisemitism,” the NRTW, one of the US’s leading labor reform groups, wrote on July 30 in a message obtained by The Algemeiner. “The UE openly supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is designed to cripple and destroy Israel economically. Today, the UE furthers its antisemitic agenda by unionizing graduate students on college campuses and using its exclusive representation powers to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. The hostile environment includes demanding compulsory dues to fund the UE’s abhorrent activities.”
In July, the National Education Association (NEA) teachers union’s Representative Assembly to ban the ADL, a measure that would have proscribed the union’s sharing ADL literature which explains the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust. In the lead up to the vote, a website promoting the policy, titled #DroptheADLFromSchools, attacked the ADL’s reputation as a civil rights advocate and knowledgeable source of information about antisemitism, the very issue the group was founded to fight.
The ban garnered the support of extreme far-left groups — such as Black Lives Matter, Faculty for Justice in Palestine, and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) — and others which have praised the use of terrorism against Israel and the broader Western world to advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which necessitates destroying the Jewish state. Its approval by the Representative Assembly prompted the ADL to say that the activists behind it were attempting to “isolate their Jewish colleagues and push a radical antisemitic agenda on students.”
Ultimately, the NEA Executive Committee refused to enact the ban, drawing praise from the ADL for having moved “reject this misguided resolution that is rooted in exclusion and othering.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.