Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the US is Michael Herzog, the older brother of Israeli president Isaac Herzog. He has just given, on January 24, an interview to the Israeli broadcaster KAN which contains some unsettling news. More of his parting remarks can be found here: “Ambassador to US Michael Herzog doesn’t see Trump giving green light to West Bank annexation – KAN,” Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2025:
Outgoing Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog said in a Friday morning interview with KAN that he doesn’t believe that US President Donald Trump will allow further annexation of West Bank areas.
“If there’s a deal with Saudi Arabia, I don’t see that the Trump administration will give the green light to annex parts of Judea and Samaria in my opinion,” said Herzog.
“This is not in line with Saudi Arabia,” he added, referring to the ongoing normalization efforts between the two countries.
He also noted that before the October 7 attacks, the two countries were very close to establishing diplomatic relations, and it “was one of Hamas’s motivations behind the attacks to thwart this agreement.
“I believe that the door to this agreement is still open. The Saudis still have conditions. We hoped to achieve this during the Biden administration, but now the ball is moving towards the Trump administration. Hopefully, they’ll invest in it and it’ll pay off.”
Trump “won’t allow” Israel to annex Judea and Samaria? Since when does Israel need permission to annex lands to which the Jews have laid claim for 3500 years? The state of Israel not only has a claim based on that long history — Jewish history was made, after all, not in Tel Aviv or Haifa, but in Judea and Samaria — but that claim has been reinforced more recently, by the express provisions of the League of Nations’ Mandate for Palestine. All of Judea and Samaria were supposed to be included in the future Jewish state. The holder of the Mandate, Great Britain, was required by Article 6 to “facilitate Jewish immigration” and “close settlement by Jews on the land.” What land? The land that is shown on Mandate maps. That land extends northward to the border of what was at the time the French-administered Mandate for Syria and Lebanon to the Red Sea in the south, and from the river Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean sea in the west.
The only reason that Israel did not possess Judea and Samaria from the very beginning of its modern existence was that in the 1948 war between Israel and five Arab armies, the British-officered Arab Legion of what was then known as the Emirate of Trans-Jordan, with John Bagot Glubb — known as “Glubb Pasha” — at its head, managed to wrest that territory from the Israelis, and held onto it until the Six-Day War in 1967. For those 19 years, Jordan ruled that area as a “military occupier.” In 1950, the Jordanians renamed that territory as “the West Bank,” and that vague toponym, invented for propagandistic reasons, managed to replace the place names Judea and Samaria that had been used all over the Western world for at least two millennia. In this renaming, the Jordanians were emulating the Romans, who, two thousand years before, had replaced the toponym “Judaea” by “Syria Palaestina,” or, simply, “Palestine,” in 136 A.D., following the suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt. The Romans saw this renaming of “Judaea” as a way of suppressing the Jewish connection to the land. The Jordanians, for the same reason, renamed Judea and Samaria as “the West Bank” just one year after winning those lands, that rightly belonged to Israel as the successor to Mandatory Palestine, in the 1948-1949 war.
Jews have lived in this territory uninterruptedly for the past 3500 years, save between 1949 and 1967, when Jordan made it Judenrein. Jews began late in 1967 to settle in Judea and Samaria, on state and waste lands, and on lands bought from, or abandoned by, Arab owners. The Israeli government did not “transfer its population” into that area — such forced transfers are illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention — Israeli Jews moved into it of their own accord.
The ambassador, who is also the older brother to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, went on to speak about the hostage deal’s second phase, noting that there’s a mutual understanding between Israel, the outgoing Biden administration, and the incoming Trump administration, that if Hamas fails to meet their required conditions, Israel will be able to resume military pressure on the Gaza Strip.
somehistory says
President Trump is talking with the king of Jordan and going to talk with el sisi of Egypt about taking all of the people in Gaza to their lands, building houses for them, keeping them there and ‘cleaning’ out the “mess” that is Gaza.
He put the embassy in Jerusalem. Who knows what he will have to say about Judea and Samaria? He may not even know as yet.
carpediadem says
Why should anyone build anything for the parasites of Palestine? The way they are coddled is disgusting.
somehistory says
As far as I care, they can live on the street.
Tony says
Israel should annex Judea and Samaria while banning Islam, its Mosques, its Schools, and its Organizations due to Muslim discrimination, terrorism, and violence against Israel and all Non-Muslims.
Islam is a MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran(Quran 2:216; 4:95; 8:12,39,74; 9:5,29,41,49; 88,111,123;49:15 and more). More specifically, Islam is a Muslim Terrorist Ideology and Criminal Organization of discrimination, segregation, supremacy, genocide, polygamy, deceit, hatred, incitement, sedition, rape, terrorism, and violence against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran. Fundamentally, Islam is a Terrorist Criminal Enterprise. The FRUIT of Islam is continual WAR, terrorism, discrimination, and violence against all Non-Muslims; this FACT must be taught and broadcast to the general public to prohibit Islam, its Mosques, and its Schools. Also, Islam is an Antichrist System terrorizing Israel, Christians, and Non-Muslims. Plus, there is NO EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW in Islam or in Islamic Law(Quran 98:6-7; 9:29 and more). In Sahih Bukhari(V6,B60,N80), Abu Huraira narrates, “‘You(Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised for mankind.’ means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them[Non-Muslims] with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam[see Quran 3:110].” See also Quran 69:30-32; 3:151.
Non-Muslims CANNOT have peace with Islam and its Muslims because Islam and its murderous god, Allah, demand a continuous, Muslim war against unbelievers where Non-Muslims are CRIMINALS under Islam as Allah in Qur’an 8:39 says, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…” HENCE, NON-MUSLIMS MUST MAKE ISLAM, ITS MOSQUES, ITS SCHOOLS, ITS ORGANIZATIONS, ETC. ILLEGAL UNDER THE LAW. Similarly, Islam and its many Organizations must be identified and publicly declared to be MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS for their funding, teaching, and support of terrorism, violence, and discrimination against Non-Muslims(eg. Quran 9:5,29,111 and more).
Islam promotes a terroristic, Muslim war against unbelievers when Allah in Qur’an 49:15 says, “Surely the believers are only those who believed in Allah and his messenger. They do not doubt, and they performed JIHAD with THEIR MONEY AND THEIR LIVES for the sake of Allah. Those are the truthful.”
Deceitful Allah promises Heavenly Paradise to Muslims for acts of Muslim killing in a terrorist war against Non-Muslims and hypocrites when Quran 9:111 says, “Surely Allah has purchased from the believers[Muslims] their souls and their money so that they may have the garden[Heavenly Paradise]. They engage in war for the sake of Allah, so they kill and are killed…”
Angeli says
Well said sir!!! 🙏👍👏
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Under the Abraham Accords, Israel was only prevented from annexing Judea and Samaria for 4 years, but that has passed. Now, if Israel has the option of signing something w/ Riyadh, they should make it clear that pushing that out another 4 years ain’t an option. Easy justification: there wasn’t anything like October 7th 2023 in 2019. But this time, there has been, so the Saudis, if they want a deal, will have to do it w/o that precondition
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Let’s remember: Israel doesn’t need to “normalize ties” with Saudi Arabia. It is the Saudis,however, who could greatly benefit from a “normalization of ties” with Israel,one of the most advanced states — economically, technologically, militarily — in the world..
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Also, Saudi Arabia is a lot weaker than it looks on a map. An increasing portion of their oil is now consumed by them, in producing all those water desalination plants, which their growing population needs, and their Neom project has been a major money sink. In 2017, they had already stopped funding dawa, much less jihad, activities abroad, and focused their money on themselves
Also, the pact that they signed w/ Iran under the supervision of Beijing is likely to come undone, as Trump has been making countries backtrack on their commitments to BRICS & SCO. Which would resume their dependence on Israel to keep Iran under check
somehistory says
What is more, who can decide what Israel does other than Israel? “annex”…Judea and Samaria are, and have always been, part of the Land of Israel.
The God of the Bible…God of the Hebrews, Israelites, Jews… and Christians….has “allowed” some things in the past; He allows some things in the present.
Sometimes, man forgets and becomes too arrogant.
God is “allowing” this for a time; until He decides that the time has come to make great changes. He has promised those changes to come.
Dave says
“Since when does Israel need permission to annex lands to which the Jews have laid claim for 3500 years? ”
Since Israel gave up its sovereignty by becoming a US puppet state. NO Israel leader has had the guts to declare ISRAEL is the land “Between the River and the Sea”, including Gaza. JORDAN was established to be the Arab (“palestinian”) state in 1922 as part of the Partition, but Israel refuses to declare this. If Israel chooses to march again into the gas chambers, how can others stop this suicide?
gravenimage says
Israel is doing–generally spoeaking–the best she can with the grim international hand she has been dealt.
Taffy says
It is my personal belief, with all due respect to the Ambassador, that the fate of Judea and Samaria is still up in the air. Annexing this land without cleaning out the Arabs, will present major difficulties. Israel does not NEED diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, and the converse is also true.but it would be nice if it were to occur.
Mohammed bin Salman has major disincentives to opening up any Israeli relationship, and the main one is assassination from within his country. Israel stands a lot more to gain by annexing Judea and Samaria and foregoing Saudi relations. Bin Salman also once said that he will not normalize relations with Israel while his father is still alive out of respect.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Actually, while MbS is the de-facto ruler of the country, this is the one policy that’s still in the hands of his father King Salman. He has said that until the Palis get what they want, or there is a Palestinian state, there won’t be a normalization w/ Israel. So one simply has to wait for him to croak: he is 89 years old, and makes Nancy Pelosi & Joe Biden look like spring chickens
However, other Arab countries can continue to normalize relations w/ Israel – such as Oman, Libya (Haftar), Lebanon (post Hizbullah), Tunisia. MbS can do it whenever he himself becomes king
martia says
Israel should have annexed all the areas won in wars of defence many years ago, along with keeping the rights over prayer on the Temple Mount. We have made and continue to make grave errors in the name of our liberal humanity to the detriment of our civilians and our soldiers. We treat our enemies with respect and worse, we educate them and give them life saving medical care not acknowledging that they are playing the long game to oust us from the land and murder every last one of us by any means. We never seem to wise up.
James Lincoln says
Israel and its IDF does not need anyone’s permission to annex Judea and Samaria.
gravenimage says
Israel’s Outgoing Ambassador to US: Trump ‘Won’t Allow’ Annexation of Judea and Samaria
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Foolish and shortsighted on Trump’s part, if accurate. Sadly, no American president has been any better, though. Of course, Israel can go ahead on her own–but without US backing this would be politically difficult.