![Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, on August 14, 2025. [Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/GettyImages-2229263933-1.jpg)
The Israeli Knesset (parliament) passed a bill in its preliminary reading on Wednesday to annex the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports. A Knesset statement said the bill was approved in a preliminary reading “to apply the sovereignty of the State of Israel to the territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).” The statement said 25 lawmakers supported the bill, introduced by Avi Maoz, leader of the far-right Noam Party, while 24 opposed it. The Knesset has 120 members in total. The bill still must pass three additional readings to become law. It will now go to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further deliberations. READ: Israel shuts down orphan care association in West Bank, seizes equipment The daily Yedioth […]
