Israel’s annexation of the West Bank has been occurring for decades
Last week, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, introduced a first reading bill to implement Israeli laws in the occupied West Bank; This led to a public backtrack from Washington and a temporary pause ordered by the prime minister. Headlines show annexation is in check. The record shows otherwise.
Annexation is already being implemented in practice. In recent years, powers once held by the Israeli army’s Civil Administration have been transferred to civilian ministries, giving settler-aligned authorities control over planning, land registration and infrastructure. Settlements receive state funding and legal protection, and land and tax systems in the West Bank are tied to Israel’s administrative networks. These changes expand Israel’s jurisdiction without any official declaration.
This process did not start with the current government. Working with the settler movement for decades, Israeli administrations have advanced settlement through collective administrative and planning decisions. Israeli measures on the ground have restructured the West Bank to provide comprehensive Israeli control with minimal Palestinian presence.
The Israeli military has administered the West Bank since 1967 through the Civil Administration, a department of the Ministry of Defense that manages the affairs of settlers and Palestinians in the occupied territories. The current far-right government is shifting this authority and gradually transferring functions to civilian ministries and institutions aligned with the settlement movement. In 2023, under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, this work went as far as: create A Settlements Authority that would oversee the expropriation of Palestinian land, issue mass demolition orders against Palestinian structures, fast-track settlement plans, and advanced laws that expand settlement council budgets. The Settlement Authority currently has jurisdiction over approximately 60 percent of land in the West Bank, including Area C, and increasingly Area B.
Recent decisions include transferring municipal tax revenues to settlement councils and placing parts of the West Bank into Israeli municipal budgeting and service systems. Recently some Palestinian villages reclassified Being Israeli and requiring residents to obtain permission to stay in their own homes.
Another cornerstone on the path to formal annexation is the increase in settlement growth since this government took office. Settlement blocks are receiving record amounts of funding for expansion, thanks to the infrastructure connecting them to Israeli cities. Highway 60, the main highway running north to south across the West Bank, now serves largely residential traffic, with restricted access for Palestinians. The government moved to implement E1. divide West Bank. Israeli peace organizations report new outposts and settler roads weekly.
In May, the Israeli government approved 22 new settlements deep in the West Bank; this was the largest expansion since the Oslo “peace” process that began 30 years ago. This follows a series of decisions to establish settlements in the West Bank, bringing the number of new settlements approved since the government took office in 2023 to over 50.
However, settlements are not a phenomenon unique to the Netanyahu era. Since the beginning of the Oslo “peace” process in 1993, the settler population in the West Bank has increased from less than 100,000 to nearly 500,000 today; Approximately one in five people living in the West Bank are now settlers. The total settler population, including East Jerusalem, is well over 700,000. At least 40 percent of the West Bank has been allocated to settlement activity.
Unsurprisingly, this sharp increase has led to an increase in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, reaching record levels since 1967. the deadliest More than 1,000 Palestinians, including 129 children, were killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers during the occupation. Thousands of settler attacks were reported to have resulted in loss of life and widespread damage to homes, farms and vehicles. 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank since January 2024; Among these, at least 1,800 are linked to settler violence.
Settler violence is organized and purposeful. It terrorizes Palestinians, disrupts daily life and forces families off their land. It serves as the co-enforcement arm of the settlement project aimed at seizing and dispossessing land. For years, Israeli authorities have minimized or ignored crimes committed against Palestinians in the West Bank. Only 3 percent Israeli police investigations into settler attacks have resulted in full or partial convictions. This impunity has become even harsher under the current government political support for ideologically motivated attacks.
