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Why Israel Should Annex the West Bank
A boy walks home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kida, Aug. 31, 2010. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias
To annex or not to annex. That is the question. Should Israel annex Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank? Many Israelis would say yes. After all, Judea and Samaria comprise the very core of the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, plus it is vital for maintaining Israel’s security. Others, however, caution against it. And they have their reasons. The trouble is those reasons don’t stand up to scrutiny.
Those opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria say, for example, that there will be too much backlash from the international community, which will lead to a wide range of consequences for Israel. But of course, a lot of people said all hell would break loose when the US, under the first Trump administration, decided to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. Those people were obviously wrong. Israel suffered no major pushback from the international community. Similarly, the sky will not fall if the Jewish state declares sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
People opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria also argue that annexing the territory would severely harm Israel’s Jewish character because it would involve absorbing 3 million Palestinians. Admittedly, I naively believed this to be true at one time. But in fact, this argument doesn’t hold water.
For one thing, there aren’t 3 million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. In fact, this figure is highly suspect because it comes from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The Palestinians have always had an interest in inflating their population numbers to build a case against Israel annexing Judea and Samaria.
Indeed, the PCBS includes in its population count some 500,000 Palestinian residents who are overseas. It also includes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are residents of Jerusalem and those married to Israeli Arabs, both of whom are included in Israel’s population figures. The truth is that the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria is closer to 1.85 million.
Moreover, if Israel was to annex Judea and Samaria, it would be under no obligation to give citizenship to every single one of the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants. But this would be practicing apartheid, right? Wrong. Many countries restrict eligibility for citizenship based on ethnicity, religion, etc. This is especially the case in the Arab world, where Palestinians in particular are excluded from citizenship in all but one country: Jordan, which, it should be noted, specifically bars Jews from becoming citizens.
In fact, in some Arab countries, acquiring citizenship is so restricted that the majority of residents are not citizens at all. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has a population of about 12.5 million, but just 11.5 percent are Emirati citizens. In Qatar, out of a population of just over 3 million, only 10.5 percent are citizens. And in Kuwait, with a population of approximately 4.9 million, expatriates outnumber citizens by 2 to 1. No one accuses these countries of being apartheid states, nor should they accuse Israel of practicing apartheid if it chooses not to bestow citizenship on Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.
Israel can also choose not to annex the whole of Judea and Samaria. In fact, many proponents of annexation have said that Israel should just annex Area C, which is under complete Israeli control per the Oslo Accords. Area C, which contains all the communities that Israel has built in Judea and Samaria, has a Jewish majority. About 500,000 Jews live in Area C, compared to approximately 300,000 Palestinians. Thus, if Israel wanted to, it could bestow citizenship on the Palestinians of Area C with minimal impact on the country’s Jewish majority as a whole.
Another popular argument against annexation is that it would prevent a two-state solution. This argument is moot because the two-state solution is dead. It died on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages — while perpetrating widespread rape and torture in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Besides, the main impediment to the two-state solution has never been the threat of annexation, but rather the refusal of the Palestinians to accept the existence of a Jewish state. This is why the Palestinians have refused every offer of statehood dating all the way back to the 1947 UN partition plan.
Since the two-state solution has finally died, it’s time we bury it — by annexing all or part of Judea and Samaria and bringing it under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in two millennia.
The author is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.
The post Why Israel Should Annex the West Bank first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.