David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.
Articles & Testimony
The idea that Israelis might embrace annexation seemed extremely improbable just a few years ago, so how did we get here?
Annexation was never endorsed by past U.S. administrations, as it goes against the foundational idea of the peace process that territorial changes in the West Bank must be part of a negotiated solution. Yet now Israel is vowing to press ahead—with the apparently unqualified support of the Trump administration. The crucial details are not yet final, but the U.S. peace plan proposed this past January suggests the action could encompass up to 29 percent of the West Bank and all 130 Israeli settlements there (including 15 Israeli enclaves within a Palestinian state). The unthinkable is still not inevitable, however...
