Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday urging him to pressure the Israeli government to intervene to stop attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and to oppose settlement expansion.

The clear-cut criticism of Israel is notable coming from two lawmakers generally seen as strong supporters of the Jewish state. The two urged Trump to reimpose Biden-era sanctions — withdrawn by the Trump administration — on those involved in the settler attacks if the Israeli government does not act.

“The Netanyahu government’s lack of action to address extreme settler violence emboldens Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups, and builds resentment in the West Bank, while putting increased pressure on the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza that your Administration secured,” the two lawmakers said. “More must be done to stop settler violence and ensure that those who perpetrate acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank are not allowed to operate with impunity.”

The lawmakers called on Trump to “speak out against settlement expansion, demand accountability for settler violence, and continue to publicly oppose annexation.”

“This vigilante violence is not isolated. It is systemic and aims to impede a viable two-state solution,” the letter continues. “It is consistent with broader systemic efforts to approve illegal expansion of settlements, demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures, and annexation of the West Bank, including Prime Minister Netanyahu’s most recent actions regarding the controversial E1 settlement project.”

Booker and Goldman said that these actions by the Israeli government ultimately threaten Israel’s security, isolate it from the international community and undermine “peace efforts in the region. This includes the Abraham Accords, a critical achievement during your first Administration.”

They said that the administration should “press the Israeli government to take significant action to prevent settler violence, hold perpetrators accountable, seek justice for the victims of violent crimes already committed, and ensure the safety and security of civilians in the West Bank” and should reimpose sanctions on those involved in the attacks if the Israeli government fails to do so.

The lawmakers, who previously wrote a similar letter to the Biden administration, highlighted that they were the only members of Congress in Israel during the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and said they “steadfastly support the special U.S.-Israel relationship and a secure and just future for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

“We continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only viable option that affirms and protects Israel’s right to exist as a democratic, Jewish state and ensures the Palestinian people’s right to human dignity, prosperity, self-determination, and a state of their own,” the letter continues. “Unchecked extremist settler violence and de facto or de jure settlement expansion threatens the very seeds of trust and cooperation needed to make progress toward this goal, which is fundamental to an enduring peace in the region.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself on Thursday from the Knesset’s approval of two bills to extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke out against annexation.

The Knesset approved two settlement annexation bills brought by right-wing members of the opposition in preliminary votes on Wednesday, despite the coalition whipping votes against them. 

The bill to annex the entire West Bank, proposed by Avi Maoz, the sole lawmaker from the anti-LGBT Noam party that quit the coalition earlier this year, received 25 votes — most of which were from Netanyahu’s coalition — with 24 voting against it. 

The other bill, which would have the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim be considered part of sovereign Israel, was proposed by former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party and passed the early vote with 32 in favor — with only one from the coalition — and nine opposed. The bills still have to go through committee meetings and three plenary votes to become law.

Trump voiced opposition to annexation efforts in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, but conducted before the Knesset vote, and said they could threaten U.S. support for Israel. 

Annexation “won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” Trump said, “and you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support. … It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

Though the first Trump administration’s 2020 peace plan would have allowed Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, Netanyahu committed later that year to refrain from such a move in exchange for entering the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates.

Vice President JD Vance was asked about the vote on his way onto Air Force Two departing Israel on Thursday, and said that he was “confused” and found the vote “weird.” He said he asked about the vote and was told it was symbolic.

“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel; that will continue to be our policy and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”

Rubio, who landed in Israel on Thursday, said the night before that the Knesset vote was “counterproductive,” while acknowledging that  Israel is “a democracy, they’re going to have their votes. People are going to take these positions.”

Netanyahu attempted to repair the damage of the votes on Thursday morning, with a statement from his office calling them “a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset.”

According to the statement, “the Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support these bills are unlikely to go anywhere.”

Maoz’s bill got support from six coalition lawmakers from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party and seven from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party. One Religious Zionist Party MK voted for Liberman’s legislation.

The one Likud lawmaker who supported Maoz’s bill was Yuli Edelstein, who was removed from the prestigious post of chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier this year due to his refusal to usher in legislation that would continue the broad exemption from IDF service for Haredim. Edelstein argued in a post on X: “If my only sin was standing with the Land of Israel and voting for applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” — the Biblical name for the West Bank — “then I am proud of it.” 

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter assisted in Netanyahu’s damage control efforts, calling Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to clarify the situation. 

Leiter assured Graham “that this vote was not intended to be a slight to the U.S. and the position of the Prime Minister is that the U.S. is Israel’s most important and valuable ally and partner, and there will be no major changes without consulting and cooperating with the U.S.,” the South Carolina senator wrote on X.

“As with all legislative bodies and democracies, there are things you can control and things you cannot,” Graham added. “[Leiter] vigorously stressed no offense was meant and reinforced that no major decisions will be made by Israel without cooperation and coordination with the U.S.”

Separately, coalition chairman Ophir Katz, the Likud lawmaker responsible for whipping votes, said on Thursday that Netanyahu “clearly instructed me last night that the coalition must not vote for the bills on the matter of sovereignty. There was coalition discipline on the matter. Since there were MKs who acted against the prime minister’s instructions, the bills passed. Following that, the prime minister instructed me not to advance these bills until further notice.”

Katz punished Edelstein by removing him from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee entirely, but consequences for the coalition members from other parties have yet to be announced.

Edelstein said that “every such removal is a medal of honor for me. Anyone who thinks this deters me is making a big mistake.”

In 2010, during a visit by then-Vice President Joe Biden to Israel, Israel’s Interior Ministry announced, without first consulting Netanyahu, that it had approved 1,600 housing units in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood that the Obama administration and most of the international community considered to be a settlement. The incident sparked a diplomatic row between the countries.

Every Senate Democrat with the exception of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) wrote to President Donald Trump on Tuesday urging him to “reinforce” the White House’s pledge to oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

In a letter led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the senators offered their “support for your comments opposing any efforts by the Government of Israel to annex territory in the West Bank and to urge your Administration to promote steps to preserve the viability of a two-state solution and the success of the Abraham Accords.”

The missive was sent weeks after Trump vowed publicly to not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, telling reporters in the Oval Office in late September that, “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, nope, I will not allow it. It’s not gonna happen.”

“Since your plan for Gaza does not address the West Bank, it is imperative that your Administration reinforce your comments and emphasize its opposition to annexation. As longstanding supporters of Israel’s security and Palestinian aspirations for statehood, we are unified in our opposition to unilateral measures by either party that undermine the prospect of lasting peace through negotiations to achieve a two-state solution,” the letter stated.

The senators argued that “any steps by Israel to annex territory or expand settlements that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state” would be harmful to the peace process. 

“Such steps have elicited deep concern and opposition from Arab partners and place at risk your past achievements under the Abraham Accords and the possibility of expanding them further,” they wrote. “At the same time, terrorism, including the horrific terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023, must be uniformly condemned and will not bring the region closer to peace.”

“It is essential that the United States reject measures that undermine the viability of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the letter continued. 

Jason Greenblatt, a key architect of the Abraham Accords, joined President Donald Trump in coming out against the Israeli government’s reported plans to annex portions of the West Bank, saying on Thursday evening that it was the wrong time to do so.

“I think Israel has so many challenges right now, militarily, [with the] hostages. There’s enormous things going on. The world is turned against Israel. I don’t agree with those that are pushing Bibi. I don’t know if it’s Bibi himself, but I hope that Bibi could figure out a way to get out of that political space that he’s in. And I think President Trump is making the right call,” Greenblatt said, using Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

Greenblatt made his remarks during an onstage interview with Jason Isaacson, the American Jewish Committee’s chief policy and political affairs officer, at the AJC’s annual Global Jewish Diplomacy Reception at Manhattan’s Harmonie Club on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which is being held this week. Shortly before the reception, Trump told reporters that he was firmly against Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

Greenblatt preceded his opposition to annexation by noting his right-wing bona fides. 

“My answer is coming from somebody who’s on the right politically, both in Israel and here. In fact, some of my Palestinian friends would say that sometimes I was Bibi’s mouthpiece,” he said. 

“But I agree with President Trump and what he said earlier today … I don’t think this is the time. I don’t think it’s the place. And I was part of the team that wrote the paperwork that would have allowed Israel to … apply Israeli sovereignty,” Greenblatt said, using the term the Israeli government prefers to refer to annexation. “I don’t think this is the time to do it.”

In addition to Greenblatt, speakers at the reception included Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, and Serge Berdugo, president of the council of Jewish communities of Morocco, who received AJC’s Akiba Award during the event. At least ten hostage family members were also present, some of whom offered staunch criticism of the Israeli government’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Responding to the growing number of Western countries recognizing Palestinian statehood, Shapiro called these moves an ineffectual “mistake.”

“It’s a purely rhetorical step that changes nothing and probably does little, if anything, to advance the stated goal of some sort of resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And in many ways it may actually set it back in part because of the way it appears to — and certainly many Israelis understand it to, and I’m sorry to say, many Arabs understand it to — reward Hamas,” Shapiro said. 

He also described the development, in part, as a response by world leaders to Israel’s refusal to develop a “day after” plan in Gaza.

“What is that vision of the day after? Not only when does it start, but what does it look like afterwards? And is it something that Arab states and European states can buy into and get behind,” Shapiro said. “That could have been a way of satisfying some of the domestic pressures, but it wasn’t really available. And so I think some of the leaders turned to this ill-advised move instead.” 

Speaking on behalf of hostage families, Ruby Chen, father of slain American Israeli hostage Itay Chen, whose remains are still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, thanked the AJC for their advocacy on behalf of the hostage families and criticized the Israeli government for the ongoing hostage crisis. 

“I think I’m still in shock that … it wasn’t obvious that it should have been the number one objective of the government of Israel. But it’s unfortunate that there were other objectives, such as the disbanding of Hamas and making sure that Oct. 7 does not happen again, which are all legitimate,” said Chen. 

Chen continued, “We call on President Trump to bring all the parties together and put on the table a deal that is acceptable by everybody, and we pray to God that… those of you who are meeting with [Netanyahu]… are able to send a message saying we hope that he shares the same conviction that President Trump has shown, as well as President Biden and the previous administration to bring all these hostages home.”

As the hostage family members gathered for a photograph following Chen’s speech, the father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, Yehuda Cohen, stepped up to the microphone and delivered a fiery impromptu speech criticizing Netanyahu. 

“After two years, Netanyahu is prolonging an unneeded war. If you really want to help us as a Jewish organization, please help us advocating the push on Netanyahu, making Netanyahu, forcing Netanyahu to end the war and get a hostage deal,” he said. 

Cohen, who came out in support of the countries recognizing Palestinian statehood — breaking ranks with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and nearly all of Israel’s political leaders, which described it as a reward for Hamas — defended his position as a form of leverage over the prime minister. 

“We are using the Europeans — their declaration of the Palestinian state, their sanctions of Netanyahu’s government … We have no choice. We are at war with Netanyahu. So if you really want to help us, that’s forcing Netanyahu to end the war and get a hostage deal, this is the real help,” said Cohen. 

President Donald Trump pledged on Thursday that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, the first time Trump has addressed the matter in his second term. 

Asked about reports that he told Arab leaders this week he would not permit Israel to make the move, Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office that he opposes annexation. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, nope, I will not allow it. It’s not gonna happen,” he said, hours after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Asked if he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the issue, Trump said, “Yeah, but I’m not going to allow it. Whether I spoke to him or not — I did — but I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough, it’s time to stop now.” 

Netanyahu will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, and he and Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Monday, for their fourth White House meeting of the year. 

In his own General Assembly address earlier this week, Trump pledged his support for Israel and sharply criticized several European nations who had unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state. He did not mention annexation or include any criticism of Israel in his remarks.

Netanyahu has pledged to respond to those moves next week, with annexation of the West Bank viewed as one possible action he could pursue, under pressure from right-wing elements of his governing coalition.

Most House Democrats, including all of the current and former top Democratic leaders, signed on to a letter on Thursday to Israeli leaders warning them against unilaterally annexing territory in the West Bank or Gaza.

At a time when Democrats are increasingly divided over the U.S.-Israel relationship and its direction, the letter highlights a strong degree of unanimity within the party against annexation, among both Democrats who largely remain supportive of Israel and those who have become more critical over the war in Gaza. President Donald Trump reportedly told Arab leaders on Tuesday that he would pressure Israel against annexation.

“As long-standing supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Israel’s security, and Israel’s future, we are deeply opposed to proposals for unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank,” the 178 lawmakers, led by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), said. “Such a move would not only violate international law but undermine decades of bipartisan U.S. policy and threaten the progress of the Abraham Accords, which offer Israel and its neighbors the opportunity to build a more secure, cooperative, and prosperous regional future. Unilateral annexation of the West Bank would plunge the region, already reeling from tens of thousands of deaths in the horrific Gaza war, into further chaos and violence.”

The letter is addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Included among the signatories are House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA), as well as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and former Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC).

The signatories highlighted that leaders from the United Arab Emirates have expressed that West Bank annexation would be a red line for them that would endanger regional normalization and integration with Israel.

“Moves toward annexation would undermine Israel’s progress on normalization, prevent international cooperation to rebuild Gaza after this devastating war, risk instability in Jordan, and even further strain ties with key European partners,” the letter continues.

They added that annexation of territory in Gaza, as discussed by some Israeli ministers, “would not only violate international law but exacerbate humanitarian and diplomatic challenges at a moment when broad international support for Israel is at risk.”

The lawmakers stated that they are “convinced that unilateral steps by either side,” including Israeli annexation of territory in the West Bank or Gaza, would be an impediment to direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians toward a two-state solution and make a “just, sustainable peace” harder to attain.

“We respectfully urge your government to refrain from steps toward unilateral annexation and to recommit to a negotiated outcome consistent with U.S. policy and the regional vision embodied in the Abraham Accords,” the letter concludes. “That path best safeguards Israel’s security and democratic ideals, advances regional cooperation against shared threats, and offers Israelis and Palestinians the possibility of living side by side in peace and dignity, freed from perpetual attacks on civilians and the threat of war.”

Schneider, a co-chair of the Congressional Jewish Caucus, has been a leader in the moderate pro-Israel wing of the party, though he has expressed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and previously warned individually against annexation. The progressive Raskin is a co-sponsor of legislation that would severely restrict many critical arms transfers to Israel.

Signatories to the letter similarly span the spectrum from consistent supporters of Israel to vocal critics.

Other signatories include Senate candidates Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Chris Pappas (D-NH); No. 4 House Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA); Jewish Caucus co-chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY); and Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA) and Rosa DeLauro, the ranking members of the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Appropriations Committees, respectively.

Some of Israel’s most vocal far-left critics, as well as some of its most ardent centrist defenders, did not sign onto the letter.

Some congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have shown signs of increasing openness to recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) wrote to top trade officials in the Trump administration urging them to take action to respond to the decision by the Norges Bank Investment Fund, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, to divest from U.S. equipment firm Caterpillar because of the Israeli military’s use of its products in the West Bank and Gaza.

“As the Trump Administration continues to take bold action to rebalance global trade, I urge you to also address the disturbing politicization of sovereign wealth fund investment decisions against American companies,” McCormick said in a letter, sent Thursday, to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

He called on the administration to take Norges’ moves against American companies into account in ongoing trade negotiations with Norway, calling the effort a “form of economic warfare directed by a foreign government against the U.S. economy.”

He said that “all options should be on the table to address this issue,” including tariffs, “restrictions on Norges’ access to U.S. financial markets, and visa sanctions” on those involved in moves against American companies.

McCormick served from 2020-2022 as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, which manages portions of Norges’ portfolio. Bridgewater CIO Greg Jensen addressed Norges’ 2024 investment conference.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called publicly for similar retaliatory action last week.

McCormick said he’d confronted Norway’s prime minister about the Caterpillar decision during a visit to the country last month, and said the prime minister had told him the decision “merely followed Norges’ ethical guidelines and was not political.”

“I respectfully disagree. While I recognize the value of Norges’ investments of nearly $1 trillion of U.S. assets, I have significant concerns that these decisions are entirely political and are driven by an agenda that has consistently targeted American companies and is explicitly anti-Israel,” McCormick continued.

McCormick emphasized that Caterpillar is a frequent target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, and noted that Norges has also previously divested from U.S. fossil fuel and defense companies — in some cases including companies that Norway itself purchases weapons systems from.

The Pennsylvania senator called on the administration to “look more broadly at instances of sovereign wealth funds adopting restrictive, unfair trade policies against U.S. companies as a result of political pressure” in other cases as well.

McCormick separately wrote to Norway’s ambassador to the United States, stating that he “remain[s] extremely concerned” by Norges’ moves against American companies, adding that he “brought this issue up directly with Prime Minister [Jonas Gahr] Støre and was unsatisfied with his response.”

The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to address Norges’ divestment from Caterpillar.

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former Trump administration official, said that Norges’ decisions have a significant impact on global investment trends.

“Norges is such a large player … It moves capital markets with its decisions,” Goldberg explained. “It causes other sovereign wealth funds, pension funds to follow. It causes institutional investors to follow. It really does set trends in investment and an inversion of capital can have impacts.”

He said that Norges’ investment decisions in relation to Israel are a major political issue in Norway’s upcoming elections, and some of the left-wing parties who could become part of the next governing coalition are demanding divestment from a “laundry list” of other American companies over their relations to Israel.

Goldberg also argued that the “danger of weaponized sovereign wealth funds” both in terms of BDS efforts and other anti-American moves is an ongoing and growing issue, and that the administration should insist that sovereign wealth funds be covered in U.S. trade deals with foreign countries. 

“This is a long standing attack on U.S. interests, attack on American energy companies, an attack on American defense companies and now an attack on any company that does business with the State of Israel — all of this to the detriment of our national economic security, all of it politicized by the Norwegians by a state-run, state-controlled entity” Goldberg said.

If the U.S. fails to respond, he continued, “we’re literally allowing supposed democratic allies for whom we provide a blanket of freedom the ability to conduct economic warfare against America and American interests.”

Flashback to 2020: As Israel mulls annexation of the West Bank, a prominent Emirati official communicates to an Israeli outlet that such a move could have disastrous consequences for Israel’s positioning in the region.

“Annexation,” UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba wrote in a Yediot Ahronoth op-ed in June 2020, “will certainly and immediately upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with UAE.”

Al Otaiba’s op-ed was part of the groundwork laid for the Abraham Accords, announced less than two months later and signed in September 2020. With the normalization agreement in place, Israel’s annexation plans were shelved as it deepened its relations with the UAE and Bahrain, the original signatories to the landmark deal.

Five years later, senior Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh, who previously served as Abu Dhabi’s envoy to the United Nations, is issuing a similar warning.

“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,” Nusseibeh told The Times of Israel earlier this week.

The five years between Al Otaiba’s op-ed and Nusseibeh’s comments have seen seismic shifts in the region: the Israel-Hamas war and the degradation of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and its  regional proxy network, particularly with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. Israel has shown itself to be the dominant military player in the region, even as it finds itself on the receiving end of widespread criticism across the Middle East and beyond over its war against Hamas in Gaza.

But they have also seen the rise of the Israeli far right as a more significant player in the country’s politics. The ascensions of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have paved the way for a renewed Israeli effort to annex broad swaths of the West Bank, five years after plans to do so were derailed by peace efforts.

Smotrich, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, announced plans to annex 82% of the West Bank and approvals of settlement expansion that are explicitly meant to thwart the creation of a Palestinian state. The issue is the focus of high-level talks in Jerusalem that are a response to a renewed global push — led by France and Saudi Arabia — for Palestinian statehood recognition.

While Nusseibeh’s warning could be intended to hold Israel back from making significant territorial claims, it’s unclear if her words will have the same impact. The new regional dynamics have shifted how Israel sees its role in a volatile arena, and Israel’s isolation on the global stage has deepened the us-against-the-world sentiment felt across Israeli society.

Israel’s annexation plans could also impact potential normalization with Saudi Arabia, with which Jerusalem was close to forging ties before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Discussions of a massive Saudi-U.S.-Israel “megadeal” that would normalize ties between Jerusalem and Riyadh have been tabled for months and appear unlikely to restart. Saudi Arabia has not weighed in on Smotrich’s most recent plans, but has expressed that normalization will not be considered while the war in Gaza rages on.

What could happen is something approaching a compromise, in which Israel makes some territorial claims — whether that’s in the Jordan Valley or in the E1 corridor — that fall short of Smotrich’s plan to annex the vast majority of the territory. 

The UAE’s carrot-and-stick approach was effective in 2020. But in a new political landscape, it’s unclear if it will be as successful a second time.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee privately briefed lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning on the security and political situation in the West Bank and the war in Gaza.

The briefing was organized by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who chairs the subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, in response to efforts by France and other U.S. allies to recognize a Palestinian state. Despite a focus on the West Bank, attendees indicated that the briefing did not provide specific answers on any U.S. policy toward a potential Israeli move to annex all or part of the territory.

Lawler told Jewish Insider the briefing had included a “thorough discussion with the ambassador about Judea and Samaria and the challenges and the opportunities,” using the biblical term for the West Bank preferred by the Israeli government and utilized by the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Given the insistence on the part of the French and other Europeans to recognize a Palestinian state, I thought it was important for my colleagues to have a greater understanding of what we’re actually talking about with respect to Judea and Samaria, or the West Bank, and how it is actually governed post-Oslo,” Lawler continued, referring to the peace accords brokered in the 1990s.

He noted that a majority of the West Bank is categorized as Area C, controlled by Israel, and said many people do not understand that.

Asked whether the group had discussed a potential declaration of Israeli sovereignty in that area, Lawler responded, “No, we had a broad discussion on the entirety of the situation there.”

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said he does not “think there’s any support in the United States for unilateral action by Israel to annex any territory.” Some congressional Republicans have indicated support for such a policy.

“[Huckabee] is against the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, and I urged [him] to be equally vocal against unilateral actions by settlers or even the Israeli government designed to prevent a Palestinian state. If you’re against this unilateral, you’re against that unilateral,” Sherman told JI.

He added that Huckabee’s “dedication to the hostages is palpable. You can feel it. You can see it.”

Asked whether the group had discussed potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) declined to address specific details of the closed-door briefing but said, “there was broad discussion on a lot of different issues, but we didn’t go in-depth into anything specifically.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday that members of the Israeli government are formulating plans for annexation of the West Bank, potentially including all but six large Palestinian cities in the West Bank, with the goal of claiming “maximum territory and minimum population.” Israel is set to hold high-level discussions on the subject this week.

An envoy for the United Arab Emirates told The Times of Israel this week that “annexation would be a red line” for the UAE and would “foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution.”

The UAE joined the Abraham Accords in 2020 in part to halt then-pending plans for annexation of the West Bank.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday that he “believe[s] it is time for the United States government to stop the sale of some offensive weapons systems to Israel as leverage to pressure Israel” into implementing a ceasefire, increasing humanitarian aid in Gaza and stopping the expansion of West Bank settlements.

Smith, a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition who has played a leading role in Democratic foreign policy, was careful to emphasize that he supports Israel and “recognize[s] both the threats they face and the reality that the actions of Hamas and their supporters have driven this conflict.” 

He also affirmed that, “Yes, the hostages must be returned. It is outrageous that Hamas took the hostages and has continued to hold them.”

“But,” Smith said, “six months of war since the end of the last ceasefire has done nothing to bring the hostages home” and it is “impossible to see how further military action in Gaza could degrade Hamas … further than what has already occurred.”

The Washington state Democrat, who has served his Seattle-area district since 1997, said he changed his position on blocking weapons sales to Israel because the “situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically in recent months.” He acknowledged that the weakening of Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria “might not have happened if the U.S. had reduced its support to Israel prior.” 

“But these developments also mean that Israel faces little if any risk to its security if the U.S. blocks the sale of some weapons now,” Smith continued.

He recognized that attempts to pressure Israel into ending the war could “simply embolden Hamas to keep fighting. I believe this has happened throughout the war as various international groups have consistently failed to hold Hamas accountable.”

“I am not naive that this approach is somehow guaranteed to work, but simply continuing the war has clearly failed to completely eliminate Hamas or gain the return of the hostages. It is time to try something else,” Smith said. 

He said the world should not “blindly trust” how Hamas conveys the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but the “scale” of the crisis “cannot be denied. 

“I also believe that if Israel does not end the war in Gaza, they run the risk of being ostracized globally in a way that is a far greater threat to the long-term security of Israel than anything their adversaries are now capable of doing,” Smith said. 

Smith also spoke out against the far-left elements of his party, saying he “remain[s] concerned that so many people advocating for the U.S. to stop supporting Israel believe that Israel does not have the right to exist as a country. 

“Opposing the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza to stop the war and end the suffering of the Palestinian people is very different from opposing the Israeli government out of a desire to wipe it off the map,” Smith said.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced legislation on Friday to repeal a decades-old provision in U.S. law relating to the construction of new diplomatic facilities in Israel and the West Bank.

The provision, enacted in 1986 as part of a package designed to improve security for U.S. diplomats and combat terrorism, banned funding from that bill from being used for “site acquisition, development, or construction of any facility in Israel, Jerusalem, or the West Bank except for facilities to serve as a chancery or residence within five miles of the Israeli Knesset building and within the boundaries of Israel as they existed before June 1, 1967.”

The language was intended to force the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to a report at the time. The Reagan administration opposed the move, resisting efforts to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ahead of a negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians about Jerusalem’s final status.

Congress later passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995, mandating the relocation of the embassy and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, though it was waived by successive presidents until President Donald Trump made the move in 2017. Republicans repeatedly accused President Joe Biden of seeking to undo that move or reopen the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem that primarily served Palestinians.

Lawler’s bill, the Keeping Official Territories Eligible for Land-use (KOTEL) Act, named for the Jewish holy site, would repeal the language from the 1986 bill.

“Israel is one of America’s closest allies, and this 40-year-old inactive prohibition serves no purpose. The KOTEL Act removes these outdated restrictions so we can continue to ensure the bond between the U.S. and Israel remains ironclad,” Lawler said in a statement.

It’s not clear how much impact Lawler’s initiative would have on current efforts to acquire or build new diplomatic facilities — the funding to which the 1986 provision applies has expired. But it could head off future attempts to challenge such construction.

Lawler plans to introduce the bill for consideration as part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s upcoming, wide-ranging State Department reauthorization effort.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday that it was divesting from 11 Israeli companies and had terminated its contracts with external fund managers in Israel over concerns regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

“These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances,” Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, said in a statement. “The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence.”

The decision follows a review initiated last week by Norway’s finance minister amid media reports that the fund had in recent years increased its holdings in an Israeli jet engine company that provides services to the Israeli military. 

The new announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and Norway in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza. In what was largely interpreted as a symbolic rebuke of Israel last year, for instance, Norway said it would recognize a Palestinian state. In response, Israel revoked the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats in Tel Aviv who had served in Norway’s representative office in the Palestinian Authority.

Yonatan Freeman, an expert on international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that there is “clear public pressure on the Norwegian government,” whose ruling Labour Party is up for reelection next month, “to respond to the Israeli war in Gaza,” and the wealth fund’s latest move “seems to be, in part, a symbolic gesture to that end.”

“Symbolic, because Israeli companies have long contributed to the fund’s performance and to Norway’s economy more broadly — through tech innovation, cybersecurity and medical devices,” Freeman told Jewish Insider on Monday. “Israel also imports Norwegian goods, such as salmon, which make up a significant portion of its fish market.”

Last year, the fund also said that it had divested from Israeli telecommunications firm Bezeq after a state ethics watchdog had raised objections to the company’s servicing of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In an interview with a Norwegian broadcaster last week, Tangen said the fund has a mandate to invest in Israel but ultimately defers to the ethics council that oversees the bank’s holdings, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Being invested in Israel is a political question, it is not a decision we make in the oil fund,” Tangen said. “We must have a very clear division of roles here, and we carry out the mandate that we have.”

The bank, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, held investments in 61 Israeli companies at the end of June, according to its announcement on Monday.  

“A truly consequential move would have been a full divestment from Israeli firms and a severing of trade ties, which undeniably could hurt Israel’s financial capacity to wage war,” Freeman told JI. “But Norway knows that would come at a steep cost — economically and diplomatically.”

Tangen has worked to build relationships with American business leaders he has hosted on his podcast in recent years, including Michael Dell of Dell Technologies, Jonathan Gray of Blackstone, Paul Singer of Elliott Management and Ruth Porat of Alphabet — many of whom have prominently engaged in philanthropic efforts to support Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks.

The bank has also hosted several other pro-Israel U.S. business executives at its annual investment conference in Oslo, including Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs.

Representatives for Dell, Gray and other executives who have been courted by Tangen did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Even as the fund did not announce a wholesale divestment from Israeli holdings, its decision drew scrutiny from the Anti-Defamation League, whose CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, characterized the divestment strategy as perpetuating double standards in a statement to JI on Tuesday.  

“Hamas is celebrating this divestment in the tunnels of Gaza,” Greenblatt said. “Demonizing the Middle East’s only democracy while practically giving a free pass to authoritarian regimes isn’t ethical investing — it’s capitulating to forces that seek to isolate Israel.”    

Israeli companies face the “highest exclusion rate” — 32% — in the fund’s equity portfolio, which includes 63 countries and 8,659 holdings, according to a new analysis by JLens, a Jewish investor network affiliated with the ADL. Ari Hoffnung, managing director of JLens, called the disparity “outrageous,” arguing in a statement to JI that “Norway’s ‘ethical guidelines’ aren’t about ethics — they’re about singling out the Jewish state.”

Some experts speculated that the fund’s decision could draw backlash from the Trump administration and Congress as well.

Emmanuel Noval, a lecturer on international relations at Tel Aviv University, said the decision “might backfire” and could “face legal issues in the U.S.,” as congressional lawmakers have ramped up efforts targeting anti-Israel boycott and divestment campaigns.

Rich Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who recently wrapped up a stint as a senior counselor to the White House’s new National Energy Dominance Council, criticized the wealth fund’s investing practices, which he said deserved broader scrutiny amid ongoing trade talks with the United States.

“It’s important to recognize that Norges isn’t just attacking Israel, it’s been attacking America for years through its ESG investment and divestment strategy,” Goldberg told JI on Monday, referring to environmental, social and governance reporting. “Israel is typically the canary in the coal mine.”

“I’d urge our trade negotiators to take a hard look at all of Norges’ anti-American practices and make demands for fundamental change a condition of any trade deal with Norway,” he added.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that future military actions by Israel must be “conducted in a way to maintain support here at home” amid GOP backlash to the Jewish state’s most recent operations in Syria and the strike that killed three at a Catholic church in Gaza.

Speaking to Jewish Insider from the Capitol on Tuesday, Graham warned that Christians in the West Bank must not face the same fate as other Middle Eastern Christian communities, including in Syria, where as many as 1,000 Christians were killed between the fall of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in November and March of this year under the new Syrian government. 

“Support for Christians throughout the region is eroded, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen in the West Bank,” Graham told JI when asked how Israel had handled the backlash against its recent military actions in Gaza, last week’s fatal strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, and reports of an arson attack in the area of the fifth-century Church of St. George in the West Bank town of Taybeh — which an Israeli police probe found to be unfounded, stating that the fire had been “in an adjacent open area, with no buildings, no crops, and no infrastructure of the site damaged.”

“I think it’s very important for us to stand up for Americans wherever they’re at, minority faiths, particularly the Christian faith. As to Israel, it is the most tolerant place in the region for minorities. They’re in a war for their lives, but we’ve got to make sure that the war is conducted in a way to maintain support here at home,” he continued.

His comments reflect recent unease within the Trump administration over Israel’s latest military actions. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited the Church of St. George on Saturday, where he decried the attack as an “act of terror” and demanded “harsh consequences” for the perpetrators, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that President Donald Trump was “caught off guard” by the moves. 

The strike on the church in Gaza killed three and injured 10, including a priest. Following a conversation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter publicly apologized and vowed to investigate what his office described in a statement as “stray ammunition” hitting the house of worship. 

The South Carolina senator added that the Taybeh fire and the killing of 20-year-old Palestinian American Saifullah Musallet in the West Bank earlier this month, which the IDF is investigating as possibly being perpetrated by Israeli settlers, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 

“The attempted arson, whatever you want to call it, I don’t know who did it but I’m glad the church was saved. The Israeli police said that no damage was done. Just keep looking. The 20-year-old Palestinian American, keep investigating,” Graham said, going on to praise Netanyahu’s decision to call Pope Leo XIV after the church attack in Gaza.

Graham emphasized his continued support for Israel, which he argued should be differentiated as a state and a people from individual or small groups of Israelis committing acts of violence in the West Bank.

“There may be some rogue settlers, but they are not Israel. I think Israel, through its very founding, has demonstrated religious tolerance better than any country in the region, and, quite frankly, Israel is about as good as any place in the world. Do you have some aggressive settlers? Maybe so, I don’t know, but I’m not going to judge an entire country by some people,” Graham said.

“The issue is not whether Israel has abandoned Christians. It’s whether or not the damage that’s been done to the Christian community, will those responsible be held accountable?” he asked. 

Graham said he hoped to be helpful to both sides as daylight between the White House and Netanyahu over Israel’s actions in Syria entered public view, explaining that he was amenable to the points of view of the Trump administration and the Israelis. 

“As to Israel, their security concerns in Syria are legitimate. They’re very important to me, but I also want to help the president with his efforts to integrate the country. So there’s some tension, and I hope we can clear it up,” he said.

He explained that finding out which parties were responsible for the recent attacks on Druze minorities in the war-torn country was a critical next step, and would help establish whether the U.S. needs to reimpose sanctions on Syria.

“It has been the policy of the Trump administration to lift sanctions and give [Syrian leader Abu Mohammed al] Jolani a chance. This fight between the Druze and the Bedouins, what role did the Syrian army play? I don’t know. Israel has been making the argument that the Syrian regular army forces were part of the massacre, that’s very important to me. If that proves to be the case, we’ll reimpose sanctions. If it proves not to be the case, then I want to know that also,” Graham said. 

“What role did the Syrian army regime forces play in all this and how much control do they have of this coalition that they formed? That, to me, is the most important question. Is Syria under the command and control of the government? If it’s not, what factions are outside their control? And let’s try to fix it,” he continued.