UK condemns Israel’s Smotrich over West Bank annexation comments

The UK has condemned Israeli government minister Bezalel Smotrich for suggesting annexation of the West Bank.

The finance minister, a hard-line settler leader, said he hoped the election of Donald Trump as the next US president will clear the way for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank in 2025.

The UK’s Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, said that would be illegal and would scupper any hopes for peace in the region.

He called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to reject the minister’s comments.

“I condemn Minister Smotrich’s comments proposing annexation of land in the West Bank,” the Foreign Office minister said.

“Annexation only undermines the prospects for peace, would lead to greater instability and would be illegal under international law.

“The Israeli government must reject this.”

Mr Smotrich said in a speech on Monday that he will push “for the inclusion of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” – using the biblical term for the territory.

He said “2025 will be the year … of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”.

The territory on the West Bank of the River Jordan was occupied by Israel after the 1967 war.

It would form a key area of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine dispute.