Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected the notion that the US is dictating policy to Israel, stressing that Israel is an independent country.
Netanyahu was responding to a question from Channel 12 News about US President Donald Trump’s comments in an interview with TIME Magazine, in which Trump said that Israel will not apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and added, “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
"I deeply, deeply appreciate President Trump’s support - both for the wartime operations, for my decision to enter Gaza City, and for his mobilization of the Arab world to help bring back our hostages through our military pressure and his diplomatic pressure," Netanyahu said.
"We brought back 20 hostages alive, something no one believed would happen. Now, in the framework we’re advancing - including tonight’s conversation with Marco Rubio, and earlier with Vice President Vance - we’re working to promote the goals of demilitarizing Gaza and disarming Hamas, along with other matters important to us. That’s what matters. The cooperation between us, between partners, is a blessing for the State of Israel. We are an independent country," he stressed.
The comments follow the Knesset’s approval on Wednesday, in a preliminary reading, two bills to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu’s office said earlier on Thursday that "the Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel."
It noted that the two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset.
US Vice President JD Vance criticized the vote in the Knesset as he boarded Air Force Two to depart Israel, telling the press that the vote was "weird" and said it confused him.
He said that he was told the vote was "symbolic" and a "political stunt." According to Vance, "If it was a political stunt, then it was a stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it."
The Vice President clarified, "The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy."