President Donald Trump “will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” he told reporters Thursday at a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, using the mainstream media term for the biblical heartland of the Jewish people. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.” Israel had threatened to formally take possession of the territory if Western nations followed through on their premeditated recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state — which eight did before the U.N. General Assembly convened earlier this week. Before Israel could respond, Trump openly declared himself against their planned response.

Israel has controlled Judea and Samaria for nearly 60 years, since its shocking 1967 victory over the surrounding Arab nations in the Six-Day War. The IDF regularly patrols the territory in search of terrorists, and the Israeli Knesset has approved a number of Israeli settlements in the region. However, Israel has never formally asserted sovereignty over the territory due to international opposition, especially from the U.S.

President Trump twice blocked Israeli annexation of the West Bank during his first term, offering the Abraham Accords as an alternative. However, in August, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that Trump’s second administration did not yet have a position on annexation.

Consequently, Israel has seriously considered annexation again this year. On July 23, the Knesset voted 71-13 in favor of annexing the West Bank, carrying 85% of the votes cast and 59% of the total votes in the 120-member parliament. The resolution declared that “Israel has the natural, historical and legal right to all of the territories of the Land of Israel,” of which “Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley” is “an inseparable part.”

“This is our land. This is our home. The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” proclaimed Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. “In 1967, the occupation did not begin; it ended, and our homeland was returned to its rightful owners. We are the original first natives of this piece of land. Jews cannot be the ‘occupier’ of a land that for 3,000 years has been called Judea.”

Unfortunately, a moral and historical right does not always lead to geopolitical success. Arrayed against Israel’s full possession of its heartland is not only every Muslim-majority nation, but also every country whose politics have been poisoned by the sinister sophistry of anti-Semitism. In other words, nearly the entire world vehemently opposes Israel’s recovery of its heartland.

Therein lies the basis of President Trump’s prohibition — and likely most prohibitions by U.S. presidents across the decades. It isn’t that America objects, per se, to Israel reclaiming Judea and Samaria, but Israeli annexation would stir up global opposition, making it terribly inconvenient to America’s other foreign policy goals.

Trump’s decision to oppose Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria apparently came during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday with leaders of Arab and other Muslim-majority countries, where he promised these leaders he would press the point with Israel. Details of the meeting have not been publicly reported, but the Trump administration moved from no position on Israeli annexation only weeks before the meeting to an absolute prohibition against it after the meeting. Unless another intervening factor explains the change, it seems reasonable to assume that the other leaders expressed their government’s strong opposition to Israel’s annexation of Judea and Samaria in the meeting.

Trump’s focus in that meeting — and through meetings all week long — has been on negotiating with a diverse, international coalition to support a postwar plan for Gaza. He likely viewed opposition to Israeli annexation as a relatively small concession to ensure the support of Arab nations on that grander scheme. According to some reports, Trump’s postwar plan for Gaza would include former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair acting as an interim administrator for the “Gaza International Transitional Authority” (GITA) and potentially an Arab-led security force.

Reportedly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still has serious questions about how this plan would affect Israeli security. Trump himself said Thursday, “We spoke with Bibi Netanyahu today, and we spoke to all the leaders in the Middle East who were great people, and we’re getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza.”

A deal on Gaza has been tantalizingly close more than once over the past few years, without coming to fruition.

When asked about the details of the plan, a White House spokeswoman responded, “A variety of proposals are being considered — but this will not be relevant unless Hamas releases every single hostage, living and deceased, and surrenders.”

Hamas’s obstinance remains the primary obstacle to any peaceful resolution in Gaza. This brings the discussion full circle: Israel threatened to annex Judea and Samaria as a rebuke to Western nations choosing to recognize a Palestinian state at this time, which Israel contends will only convince Hamas that its strategy of terrorism is working.

“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving Al Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11. This is sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it,” exclaimed Netanyahu in his Friday speech before the United Nations. “I want to give a message to those Western leaders. Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don’t have the guts to face down a hostile media and anti-Semitic mobs demanding Israel’s blood.”

The decision by the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, and other nations to recognize a Palestinian state has just made it harder to implement a post-war plan in a Hamas-free Gaza. Israel knows it, but Trump’s new opposition to its threatened response complicates its plans.

After Trump’s public confirmation that he will oppose Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria, some Israeli politicians spoke to urge Netanyahu’s government to follow through with annexation anyway. “The Jewish people’s sovereignty over the Jewish homeland does not depend on any external source. Even one as loving and friendly as can be,” wrote Knesset Member (MK) Zvi Sukkot. “Faced with European countries’ insane recognition of a Palestinian terror state, we must apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria already during this term.”

Samaria Governor Yossi Dagan concurred. “A sympathetic American administration isn’t one that will apply sovereignty or build in place of us. It’s an administration that we can manage our agreements and manage our disagreements with. Only sovereignty over all the open areas and settlements will prevent a terror state in the heart of Israel.”

Both Trump and Netanyahu have difficult negotiations ahead of them at this time, and it’s unclear what the final outcome will be.

“I trust President Trump. He is … a heck of a peacemaker,” said Rep. John McGuire (R-Va.) on “Washington Watch.” “I also trust Bibi Netanyahu to know what’s going on in his area. … He’s got seven fronts, and he deserves to do what he needs to do to keep Israel and the Israeli people safe. It’s a very complicated place.”