Following meeting with Netanyahu, Trump to announce position on Judea & Samaria annexation within 4 weeks

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for their first official meeting in the White House on Tuesday. Among the topics discussed, were the Gaza situation, the next phase of the hostage release ceasefire deal and the Iranian threat. 

However, despite Trump’s shocking announcement regarding a proposed U.S. takeover of Gaza, and following much speculation that the president might announce support for Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria, Trump declined to directly state his position on the matter. 

When asked by a reporter during the joint press conference whether he supported “Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria," Trump responded, "We're discussing that with many of your representatives. You're represented very well.” 

“People do like the idea, but we haven't taken a position on it yet. We'll be making an announcement probably on that very specific topic over the next four weeks,” the president stated. 

There has been rampant speculation among Israeli media that Netanyahu would ask Trump to agree to an Israeli declaration of sovereignty of the disputed territory. Many leaders in the settlement movement in Israel directly asked Netanyahu to raise the issue with Trump during his Washington visit. 

On Monday, Trump was asked a similar question by a U.S. reporter regarding his support for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, as Judea and Samaria is often called in the West. 

“I’m not going to talk about that. It certainly is a small, it’s a small country in terms of land,” the president responded. 

“See this pen?” he continued, holding up the pen he was using to sign executive orders in the Oval Office. “This wonderful pen on my desk is the Middle East, and the top of the pen – that’s Israel.”

“That’s not good, right? You know, it’s a pretty big difference. I use that as an analogy – it’s pretty accurate, actually,” he continued.

“It’s a pretty small piece of land. It’s amazing what they’ve been able to do when you think about it, [there’s] a lot of good, smart brain power, but it is a very small piece of land, no question about it,” Trump continued. 

Several months ago, during an event focused on antisemitism, Trump remarked on Israel’s small size. 

“When you look at a map, a map of the Middle East, Israel is a tiny little spot compared to these giant landmasses, it’s really a tiny spot, I actually said, ‘Is there any way of getting more? it’s so tiny.” 

While Trump made that remark in the setting of discussing Iran’s military capabilities, many anti-Zionist accounts on social media interpreted the statement as a support for Israeli annexation of the territories of Judea and Samaria. 

Within Israel, analysts believe that Netanyahu would be willing to give up on annexation of Judea and Samaria in order to guarantee normalization with Saudi Arabia. 

Most European countries also oppose any annexation of Judea and Samaria, believing the territory should be used to create a Palestinian state. 

During the press conference Tuesday, Trump declined to commit to a Palestinian state.

“Well, a lot of plans change with time. A lot of death has occurred since I left and now came back,” he said when asked about his 2020 peace plan which included a provision for a Palestinian state.

“Now we are faced with a situation that’s different,” Trump stated, “in some ways better, in some ways worse.”