U.S. Vice President Watson ended his two-day visit to Israel and unmasked his dissatisfaction with the Israeli parliament before leaving.
He submitted the Israeli parliament's decision Two bills on the sovereignty of the West Bank have been dubbed “very stupid political slanders” and outright said: “I personally feel some insult to this.”
In a preparatory vote held by the Knesset on the 22nd, two draft laws aimed at extending Israel's sovereignty to the West Bank and illegal settlements were passed.
Of the two bills, one plans to annex all settlements on the West Bank, while the other is more limited. Targeted the main urban settlement of Maal Adumin.
Despite the opposition of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the majority of members of the Likud group led by him, the bills were passed.
The vote showed that the full annexation of settlements bill only A weak advantage of 25 to 24.。
Wans openly expressed his confusion and dissatisfaction at the airport: “The outcome of this vote is ‘strange’, and I’m a little confused about it.”
He clearly stated: West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.The U.S. government’s policy is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.
Almost at the same time, U.S. President Trump also issued a tough statement in an interview with Time magazine.
"It won't happen. Absolutely not,"Trump said,"Because I made a commitment to Arab countries." You can't do this now. We have received tremendous support from the Arab world."
Trump warned: “If Israel goes alone, it will lose all American support.”
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio also issued a warning before departing for Israel, saying that the Israeli parliament's move to advance the annexation of the West Bank could threaten Trump's plan to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Faced with the strong reaction of the United States, the Israeli government rushed to explain.
Netanyahu’s office responded that the vote “It is a political provocation deliberately made by the opposition party.”, intended to stir up disputes during Vance's visit to Israel.
In an English-language statement, the Prime Minister’s Office emphasized: “Both bills were submitted by members of parliamentary opposition parties and no progress could be made without the support of the Likud group.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also tried to calm things down, saying the vote It’s “the opposition’s political move trying to embarrass the government during Vice President Wallace’s visit.”“The government did not participate in the vote, which reflects our position.”
This move by the Israeli parliament has caused strong reaction from the international community.
In a joint statement, 15 countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the League of Arab States and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, strongly condemned the draft law approved by the Israeli parliament.
The statement noted that the bill It is a flagrant violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 2334.
These countries call on the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibility to force Israel to stop its dangerous escalation and illegal actions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs issued a statement on the 22nd strongly condemning this, saying the move was an illegal attempt to annex Palestinian territory.
The moment of this incident was unusually delicate.
Wans' visit to Israel was intended to consolidate the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
During the visit, Vance and Netanyahu also dismissed allegations that “Israel is an American ancestor.”
Netanyahu told reporters: "I want to be clear. This week they said that Israel controls the United States, and the next week they said that the United States controls Israel. This is absolutely nonsense。”
Vance also echoed at the time: "We don't want a vassal state, and Israel is not such a state."
However, just a day later, Vance publicly expressed his dissatisfaction over the vote in the Knesset, highlighting the complexity of the US-Israel relationship.
Israel's "New Izvestia" commented that Vance's remarks highlighted the growing tensions between Israel and the United States.
Netanyahu has to find a balance between U.S. concerns and the expectations of far-right forces at home.
Although the vote was only symbolic, it threw a shadow on U.S. and Israeli relations at this sensitive moment.