The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s separate and clear rejection of an Israeli bill that would formally annex the occupied West Bank but warned that Israel’s de facto annexation is already well underway through occupation, settlement expansion, and apartheid governance – and should result in the loss of all U.S. support.
The Knesset’s preliminary annexation bill passed during Vice President Vance’s visit to Israel earlier this week. The measure, introduced by members of Israel’s far-right opposition, would formally incorporate large sections of the occupied West Bank into Israeli territory. The largely symbolic vote drew international attention and alarm.
In an interview published by Time magazine, President Trump said: “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
During his visit, Vice President Vance condemned the vote as “a very stupid political stunt,” reaffirming that “the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.”
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“CAIR welcomes President Trump and Vice President Vance’s clear rejection of Israel’s attempt to annex the occupied West Bank. They are right to call it an insult. But de facto annexation is already a reality. Israel has entrenched permanent control through settlement expansion, military rule, and a two-tiered legal system that privileges settlers while suffocating Palestinian life.
“For decades, U.S. presidents have opposed annexation in words while arming Israel in practice. If President Trump and Vice President Vance truly believe annexation should end U.S. support, that principle must apply to the de facto annexation now underway. The United States must stop funding, arming, and diplomatically shielding Israel’s apartheid system as it continues to seize Palestinian land and deny basic rights.”
CAIR notes that while any move toward annexation would contradict decades of bipartisan U.S. policy affirming that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied territories whose final status must be resolved through negotiation, not unilateral Israeli action, de facto annexation is already taking place.
Israeli terrorist soldiers and illegal settlers continue to expand illegal colonies, seize land, and impose a dual legal system that denies Palestinians basic rights and sovereignty. These ongoing realities have already erased the geographic and political conditions necessary for a viable Palestinian state, leaving only a system of permanent occupation enforced through military power and segregation.
Yesterday, CAIR called on Democratic and Republican elected officials to listen to their constituents instead of anti-Palestinian lobby groups after a poll showed that 59% of voters support US recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Most Americans – including 80% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans – think the U.S. should recognize Palestinian statehood, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The poll also found that 60% of respondents view Israel’s Gaza response as excessive.
SEE: Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows | Reuters
CAIR and CAIR-FL will not stop advocating until Mohammed Ibrahim is free and back home with his family.
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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