Speaker Johnson Endorses Land Seizure from an Illegal Settlement, Knesset Vote Signals Full Israeli Takeover
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Trump administration and Congress to take immediate action to stop Israel’s announced plan to occupy the Gaza Strip and annex the West Bank, before the two-state solution is permanently destroyed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government have made clear they are abandoning any pretense of supporting a negotiated peace. This week, Netanyahu confirmed plans to fully occupy Gaza, eliminating any remaining suggestion that Israel seeks a two-state outcome. Two weeks ago, the Israeli Knesset passed a resolution declaring the West Bank “an inseparable part of Israel,” effectively calling for full sovereignty over Jewish settlements across occupied Palestinian territory.
Instead of discouraging these actions, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank, where he endorsed Israel’s claim to the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. During the visit, Johnson declared: “The Bible teaches that Judea and Samaria were promised to the Jewish people, and they belong to you by right,” using the Israeli term for the West Bank.
CAIR notes that Speaker Johnson’s statement contradicts international law, longstanding U.S. policy, and the bipartisan consensus shared by every American administration since 1967: that lasting peace can only come through negotiation, not unilateral annexation.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“CAIR condemns Israel’s announced re-occupation of Gaza and its vote to annex the West Bank, illegal acts of calculated aggression that violate international law and extinguish any remaining hope for a two-state solution.
“This is genocide and ethnic cleansing by design, followed by the calculated theft of Palestinian land by illegal Israeli settlers with the Israeli government’s backing and U.S. complicity. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza is being starved into collapse, and the next phase is already underway: permanent dispossession and land theft.
“If Israel’s actions continue, it will no longer be able to mask its genocide and apartheid as a temporary illegal occupation awaiting peace. The world will see what Palestinians have always known: a regime of permanent domination. As with apartheid South Africa, this will lead to international isolation, collapse, and ultimately a one-state future, where democracy and equal rights replace ethno-nationalist rule. If Israel refuses to change course, that may be the only rational outcome left.
“The U.S. must act immediately: end weapons transfers, reject annexation, and uphold Palestinian sovereignty before this moment becomes irreversible.”
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Humanitarian organizations warn that Gaza is on the verge of famine: one in three people goes days without food, nearly half a million are facing catastrophic food insecurity (IPC Phase 5), and more than 65,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition. At least 180 Palestinians have died from starvation-related causes, including 93 children.
CAIR is urging the Trump administration and members of Congress to:
- Immediately halt all offensive weapons transfers to Israel under U.S. law;
- Publicly reject Netanyahu’s planned occupation of Gaza and the Knesset’s West Bank annexation vote;
- Reaffirm U.S. support for Palestinian sovereignty and the two-state solution;
- Support international accountability for Israeli war crimes, apartheid policies, and population transfer.
Failure to act now will make the United States complicit in the dismantling of Palestinian self-determination and the permanent entrenchment of apartheid.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com