Right-wing rivals of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly passed a West Bank annexation bill in first parliamentary reading, drawing a US rebuke as the allies advance a Gaza peace plan whose regional support hinges on acknowledging Palestinian territorial claims.

“I personally take some insult to it,” US Vice President JD Vance, wrapping up brainstorming visit to Israel, said in response to Wednesday’s 25-to-24 Knesset vote.

US President Donald Trump last month said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank — an area on which, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, Palestinians want to establish an independent state.

In a Time magazine interview published on Thursday, Trump said a West Bank annexation “won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countri

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