Israel freezes legislative process for West Bank annexation

JERUSALEM - Israel on Thursday froze the West Bank annexation bills that passed a preliminary vote in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, the day before.

Ofir Katz, chairman of the government coalition, said in a statement that the bills for the full annexation of the West Bank and the annexation of the large-scale settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem will not be advanced until further notice.

Israel's parliament voted Wednesday in favor of the two bills to apply Israeli law and administration to all settlements in Maale Adumim and the West Bank.

The vote was carried out during US Vice President JD Vance's visit to the country.

Speaking to reporters at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv before his departure on Thursday, Vance said the vote was a "political stunt" which has no practical significance.

"If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the parliamentary vote on annexation "was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during US Vice President JD Vance's visit to Israel".

It explained that Netanyahu's Likud party "did not vote for these bills ... Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere".