Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, considered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidant and the official responsible for relations with the United States and Gulf states, has said in multiple conversations that he “can push through diplomatically” a move to annex the Jordan Valley — both with Washington and despite threats from the United Arab Emirates.
According to three political and diplomatic sources familiar with his position, Dermer believes he can present such a step as a countermeasure to the expected recognition of a Palestinian state by several countries, led by France and the United Kingdom, at the UN General Assembly next week.
Dermer has also expressed confidence that he can advance the move “quietly” with Democrats in the U.S. as well. He argues that bipartisan thinking is required on this matter. “It matters that opposition parties like Yisrael Beiteinu, Blue and White and even parts of Yesh Atid supported Avigdor Liberman’s bill on this in the last winter session, which the coalition voted down,” the sources said. Dermer’s office did not deny the reports, responding only: “No comment.”
Netanyahu is weighing the move, along with more symbolic measures such as closing the French consulate in Jerusalem. However, he has not made a final decision, and it is not clear whether the talk of annexation is a genuine plan or a threat meant to dissuade countries from recognizing a Palestinian state.
The issue of annexation in the West Bank as an Israeli response to recognition of Palestinian statehood was raised between Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Israel this week. According to Israeli sources, Rubio conveyed that Washington has warned European states against unilateral steps, stressing that such moves would prompt a unilateral response from Israel.
Symbolism and far-right pushback
Washington is not expected to veto an Israeli annexation move, but there is an understanding that the U.S. does not want to endanger the Abraham Accords, considered President Donald Trump’s key foreign policy legacy. Netanyahu, too, is reluctant to risk a rupture with the UAE. For that reason, annexing only the Jordan Valley — seen as symbolic compared with annexing the entire West Bank or the Israeli-controlled portion of the territory known as Area C — is being considered a more viable option.
The UAE has sent strong warnings in recent weeks, declaring that annexation in the West Bank would be a “red line” and would harm bilateral ties established under the Abraham Accords. Reuters reported Thursday, citing sources in Abu Dhabi, that annexation would downgrade relations and could even prompt the UAE to recall its ambassador, though not fully sever ties.
On the domestic front, Netanyahu faces opposition from his far-right coalition partners. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Yesha Council, a powerful settler lobby that leads the public campaign for annexation, oppose applying it only to the Jordan Valley. They argue that doing so in exchange for recognition of a Palestinian state would be weaker than a 2020 annexation plan presented by Trump during his first term and would imply de facto recognition that the rest of the territory belongs to a Palestinian state, especially against the backdrop of European recognition efforts.
Following reports in recent weeks that Israel was considering a “symbolic annexation” move, Smotrich said, “We don’t do half or a quarter of the job. Israeli annexation must be applied to the entire territory. Simply because this is our land.” Shortly afterward, he unveiled a plan to annex 82 percent of the West Bank, saying: “Maximum land, minimum Arabs.”