A Hollow Threat to Block Annexation
Trump has never blocked the Israeli government from doing anything it wanted to do.
The president pretends to get tough with Netanyahu:
President Trump said he would block Israel from annexing the West Bank, issuing a new ultimatum to head off a move that other Western and Middle Eastern powers warned could further inflame regional tensions and jeopardize Israel’s normalized ties with some Arab nations.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, publicly reiterating a pledge he made to Arab leaders privately earlier this week.
Opposing annexation is the right thing to do, but Trump has no credibility on this front. In his first term, his administration recognized Israel’s illegal claim to the Golan Heights. He has done nothing to oppose settlement expansion and the creeping de facto annexation of the West Bank. Trump has never blocked the Israeli government from doing anything it wanted to do. The president has either actively supported its actions or acquiesced in whatever it did.