Israeli Annexation in the West Bank? Scenarios and Implications

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has set the date of July 1 for his cabinet to consider a proposal to extend Israeli law to portions of the West Bank, perhaps annexing as much as 30 percent of the territory in accordance with the Trump peace plan. Yet the actual scope of the move and Washington's willingness to support unilateral action remain unclear. What factors will shape Israel's decisionmaking on the matter? How might annexation look on the ground, and what impact would it have on Israel's relations with the Palestinians, Arab states, Europe, and other players?

Dennis Ross is Institute's counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow. For more than twelve years, he helped shape U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, including as point man on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the Bush and Clinton administrations.

David Makovsky is the Institute's Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and director of its Project on Arab-Israel Relations. In 2013-2014, he served as a senior advisor to the State Department's special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Ghaith al-Omari is a senior fellow in the Institute's Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship. Previously, he served as an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during the 1999-2001 permanent-status talks and held various positions within the Palestinian Authority.

Dana Stroul is the Kassen Fellow in the Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics. Previously, she served for five years as a senior professional staff member with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, covering the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey.