JERUSALEM, Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to shelve a plan to apply Israeli sovereignty to the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. The plan was scheduled for discussion in a meeting of government ministers on Thursday.
The meeting will now concentrate on the security situation in Judea and Samaria in light of a threat from Western nations to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations this month.
The Jerusalem Post reports that defense officials are expected to caution ministers that the West Bank “could erupt instantly” during the push for Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu’s decision to postpone the annexation plan came after a warning from the United Arab Emirates to Israel and President Trump that annexing Judea and Samaria would threaten the Abraham Accords, signed nearly five years ago between Israel and Arab states.
Regional and local council heads from Judea and Samaria have formulated the annexation plan with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to cover more than 80 percent of the biblical lands, leaving a number of Palestinian city-states in the West Bank.
“Beyond the historical, biblical, and moral right of the Jewish people to their land, sovereignty has a paramount security role: to prevent the establishment of an Arab terror state in the heart of our homeland and to secure the safety of Israel’s citizens for generations,” Smotrich declared.
However, in an interview with The Times of Israel, Emirati Special Envoy Lana Nusseibeh insisted, “Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace. It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told CBN News that he and Trump have not discussed the issue.
“But generally, the president’s attitude has been not just with Israel, but with countries around the world: You’re a sovereign nation. You make your own decisions,” the ambassador said.
In Gaza, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir indicated that Israel is expanding combat and intensifying its operations against Hamas to achieve the objectives of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump warned Hamas on Wednesday to set the hostages free.
He wrote, “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!”
In Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, protests to free the hostages turned violent. Demonstrators set fire to a car near the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Police published a video explaining that while demonstrations are legal, blocking roads, setting fires, and vandalism are not.
Netanyahu maintains the war could end immediately if Hamas agrees to the conditions set by the Security Cabinet, including the release of all 48 hostages, the disarmament of Hamas, and Israeli control of security in the Gaza Strip.
