Trump Draws Red Line on Israel’s West Bank Annexation

President Donald Trump has publicly drawn a red line against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-simmering dream of annexing the West Bank, declaring point-blank: "I will not allow it. It's not going to happen." Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump doubled down on private assurances he gave Arab and Muslim leaders at the UN earlier this week, where he promised to rein in any such move to safeguard fragile regional peace.

The blunt rebuke comes as Netanyahu jets to New York for a UN General Assembly address, fresh off domestic howls from his far-right coalition partners—like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—who demand sovereignty over Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley to "erase" Palestinian statehood from the map. Trump's words, echoed in outlets from Reuters to The New York Times, mark his sharpest public stance yet, clashing with his administration's history of ironclad Israel support—from embassy moves to Abraham Accords brokering. "There's been enough. It's time to stop now," he added, confirming he'd hashed it out directly with Netanyahu during a Thursday call.

This bombshell unfolds against a powder keg: Over the past week, heavy-hitters like France, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal have recognized Palestine as a state, moves Israel slammed as a betrayal that could justify annexation in retaliation. Arab diplomats, including Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, warned Trump in closed-door UN huddles that such a land grab would torch the Abraham Accords—Trump's crowning first-term foreign policy win—and doom any two-state lifeline. With Netanyahu's coalition teetering and over 64,000 Palestinian deaths in the ongoing Gaza war, Trump's intervention could force Bibi's hand—or spark a full-blown political implosion back home.

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Analysts buzz that this is Trump playing 4D chess: Preserving deal-making leverage for Gaza ceasefires and hostage releases—he teased "a deal could happen soon"—while keeping the door cracked for expanded Arab-Israeli normalization. Israeli officials stayed mum so far, but whispers from Jerusalem suggest the White House's preemptive chill-out chats didn't fully sway them—until now. As Netanyahu and Trump huddle at the White House next week, one thing's crystal: The unbreakable US-Israel bond just hit a speed bump, and the Middle East's fault lines are trembling. Will Bibi back down, or double down? The clock's ticking.

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