U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday (23 October) that President Donald Trump's policy remains that the occupied West Bank won't be annexed by Israel.

He told reporters at Ben Gurion Airport that he "feels pretty good" about the Gaza ceasefire after his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Vance's comments came after a bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land that Palestinians want for an independent state, won preliminary approval from Israel's parliament on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that moves by Israel's parliament toward the annexation of the West Bank could threaten President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, which has yielded a shaky ceasefire so far.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: BEN GURION AIRPORT, ISRAEL (OCTOBER 23, 2025) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - Broadcast: No use USA Digital: No use USA)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, J.D. VANCE, SAYING (SOUNDBITE STARTS WITH VANCE EXITING VEHICLE):

“Hey, guys. How are you? Well, look, I had a final productive day in Israel today. I was mostly focused on meeting with the Ministry of Defence in Israel, understanding the security situation on the ground in Gaza, and obviously meeting with some of our military personnel as well. I think the whole purpose of this trip was really to try to understand how to make the peace stick, how to move on to phase two successfully. And a big part of that is just understanding what would be necessary to police and secure Gaza so that on the one hand, we can provide stability and hopefully some humanitarian assistance to the Gazans, but on the other hand, ensure that Hamas is unable to threaten Israel, so."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, J.D. VANCE, SAYING:

“Well, I do. And in fact, it's not just me, but the entire team. I know Marco is going to arrive in just a couple of hours. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were in Saudi Arabia. And then I believe right now they're actually in the UAE trying to marshal support for the International Security Force. It's very early, but I do think that we've made a lot of progress in understanding what the composition of the ISF would look like and understanding what would be necessary for it to actually be effective. And then just to understand how Central Command is going to work with the troops who are actually going to be on the ground. Again, no American troops on the ground, but American troops supervising and mediating the peace. Understanding what that relationship would look like, that's really what I was here to do. I think we did make some progress, something to go back home and continue to work on it."

4. WHITE FLASH

5. VANCE LISTENING TO REPORTER (OFF CAMERA) ASKING (English) “Can I have a comment about the West Bank vote that took place yesterday while you were in the country?” / (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, J.D. VANCE, SAYING:

“Oh, yeah, that was weird. That was weird. I was sort of confused by that. Now, I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote. Some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is, is when I asked about it, somebody told me that it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance. It was purely symbolic. I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt. And I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that. But we certainly weren't happy about it. Thank you.”

6. VANCE SPEAKING WITH OTHERS, GETTING INTO PLANE, WAVING