ISTANBUL 

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sunday criticized the government’s push to annex the occupied West Bank, calling the move “yet another provocation toward a world that is already turning its back on us.” 

Speaking at a meeting of his Yesh Atid Party, Lapid warned that such unilateral measures would only harm Israel’s foreign relations. 

“What are they trying to do? Further damage our international relations? And for what? It’s not going to happen, and all we’ll get out of this is to absorb more and more serious international damage for something that has no viability,” he told reporters. 

He said his party supports annexation of large settlement blocs, including Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel, as part of an agreement, but said unilateral steps are “not helpful in any way or on any front.” 

Lapid’s comments came after Ma’ale Adumim’s mayor announced that Israeli authorities had approved planning for new settler units in the contentious E1 area, a 12-square-kilometer zone between Ma’ale Adumim and East Jerusalem. Building there would sever territorial continuity between Palestinian cities in the West Bank and obstruct the prospect of a viable Palestinian state. 

The annexation push has also drawn sharp warnings from the United Arab Emirates, which said such a move would cross a “red line” and jeopardize the vision of regional integration. 

In 2020, the UAE normalized relations with Israel under US-brokered accords, joined later by Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. But Emirati officials have cautioned that annexing the West Bank could put those agreements at risk. 

Earlier this week, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. 

The announcement came just weeks after Israeli authorities advanced the controversial E1 project, which aims to split the occupied territory into two parts, cutting off Palestinian cities in the north from those in the south and isolating East Jerusalem.  

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.