Smotrich says Israel's 'true friend' Trump will 'change his mind' on West Bank annexation

Israel's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has claimed he is "fully convinced" that US President Donald Trump will eventually reverse his opposition to Israel's illegal annexation of the occupied West Bank.

In a post on X, Smotrich, a key figure in Israel’s far-right coalition, says he believes "President Trump, who is a true friend of Israel, will change his mind once he understands the importance of Israeli sovereignty over [the West Bank]."

His remarks came after Trump had warned that Israel would "lose US support completely" if it proceeded with annexing occupied Palestinian land, stressing that such a move "will not happen" as it would break commitments made to Arab states.

Smotrich accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to push Trump on the annexation, saying Netanyahu had shown "determination" on captives talks but "not the same insistence regarding sovereignty".

The far-right minister urged settlers and right-wing supporters to "keep demanding the annexation of the West Bank until the United States realises that true support for Israel means... rejecting a Palestinian state".

He also alleged that Netanyahu "sold sovereignty to Arab states in exchange for the Gaza deal and possibly for expanding the Abraham Accords", accusing him of compromising on what Smotrich called "Israel's divine right to the land."

Smotrich's comments followed the Knesset's preliminary approval of two bills to annex illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank - a move widely condemned by Palestinians, Arab states, and international legal experts as a grave breach of international law.

A Reuters analysis earlier this month, entitled 'How Israel's West Bank strategy aims to bury Palestinian statehood', found that settlements and surrounding military areas have fragmented the West Bank into disconnected enclaves, erasing the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state, as more Western nations recognise it.

Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967 and has since entrenched a military occupation while expanding settlements considered illegal under the UN Charter and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Palestinians regard the territory as the heart of their future independent state.