What is the future of Israel-Palestine relations as Netanyahu pushes to annex West Bank?
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas raises stakes for new Israeli government by vowing to end security cooperation

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has declared an end to security cooperation with Israel and the US over plans by the new Israeli government to annex parts of the West Bank.
Tensions have been running high since Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former political rival Benny Gantz formed a political union and announced plans to declare sovereignty over Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank - a de facto annexation.
At an emergency meeting this week to discuss the plans, Abbas said that his Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] was “absolved... of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the commitments based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Why does Israel want to annex the West Bank now?
In an address to the Israeli parliament on Sunday, Netanyahu argued that the time was right to annex the territory in the occupied West Bank that the Palestinians have long counted on for a future state.
“These areas of the country were the places of the birth and the growth of the Jewish nation,” Netanyahu told lawmakers in the Knesset. “And it is time to apply Israeli law and to write a glorious new chapter in the history of Zionism.”
For decades, such a move “wasn’t seriously considered”, writes Shmuel Rosner, a fellow at Jerusalem-based think-tank The Jewish People Policy Institute, in an opinion piece for The New York Times. Yet this “worrisome idea… is no longer marginal or considered as extreme as it once was”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
This shift in stance is due primarily to the ongoing failure of the Middle East peace process, Rosner says. Since decades of negotiations have failed to yield an agreement on a two-state solution, “a growing number of Israeli leaders are reaching the conclusion that this old idea is dead”.
And since they also believe the status quo is unsustainable, “they are searching for new ideas”.
Gideon Levy of Israeli newspaper Haaretz says that annexation is “shaping up as the only way out of the deadlock” that sees some 700,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with no intention to leave.
The alternative to annexation is worse than the status quo, Levy argues, because “it would eternalise the criminal situation - this situation has long been perpetuated; it would establish a reality of apartheid - a reality that has existed for quite some time”.
Annexation puts “an end to the lies, and requires everyone to look the truth straight in the eye”, he adds.
And time is of the essence because by the beginning of next year, a new leader may have taken residence in the White House.
According to news site Axios, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, has been lobbying the Donald Trump administration “to convince them that Israel must move forward on annexations of parts of the West Bank before November’s election, fearing that Joe Biden will defeat President Trump”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
What might Abbas do next?
That remains to be seen. The PLO voted two years ago to end cooperation with Israel and the US, and left it up to Abbas to decide when and how to implement the move.
But it is “unclear… what his declaration would mean in practice, especially in terms of the future of the Palestinian security apparatus”, says The Guardian.
According to Daniel Levy, president of independent policy institute the US/Middle East Project, “to pass the bar of credibility as a threat, to show this is not the same as the umpteen threats that they’ve previously issued of a similar nature and that they never acted on, the bar is very high. We will actually have to see Palestinian action.”
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistricting
Cartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremes
Talking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Crossword: August 9, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Israeli security cabinet OKs Gaza City takeover
Speed Read Netanyahu approved a proposal for Israeli Defense Forces to take over the largest population center in the Gaza Strip
-
An ancient Israeli cave teaches new archaeological lessons
The Explainer The cave is believed to be one of the world's oldest burial sites
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
The countries that have recognized Palestinian statehood
The Explainer The United Kingdom has become the latest country to weigh in on the issue
-
Israeli NGOs have started referring to Gaza as a 'genocide' — will it matter?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION For the first time since fighting began in 2023, two Israeli rights groups have described their country's actions in the Gaza Strip as 'genocide' while famine threatens the blockaded Palestinian territory
-
28 nations condemn Israel's 'inhumane killing' in Gaza
Speed Read Countries including Australia, France, Japan and the U.K. have released a joint statement condemning Israel's ongoing attacks
-
Israeli gunfire kills dozens at Gaza aid site
Speed Read The U.N. estimates that at least 875 Palestinians have died while trying to access food in recent months
-
The return of the Houthis: violence in the Red Sea
In the Spotlight The Houthis are back with their strongest attack yet