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The Knesset approved a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank on Wednesday, a symbolic gesture that united the otherwise fractious right-wing governing coalition.
The resolution, which passed 71-13, declared that the West Bank is “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel, the historical, cultural and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people” and that “Israel has the natural, historical and legal right to all of the territories of the Land of Israel.”
It called on the government to “apply Israeli sovereignty, law, judgment and administration to all the areas of Jewish settlement of all kinds in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley,” the government’s term for the West Bank. The motion was advanced by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, Likud MK Dan Illouz and opposition Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War, and the territory is now estimated to be home to more than 500,000 Israeli settlers, in addition to millions of Palestinians. Much of the international community says Israel is illegally occupying the territory and views the settlements as violations of international law, which Israel disputes.
“This is our land. This is our home. The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said after the vote. “In 1967, the occupation did not begin; it ended, and our homeland was returned to its rightful owners. We are the original first natives of this piece of land. Jews cannot be the ‘occupier’ of a land that for 3,000 years has been called Judea.”
