Israeli settlers in West Bank see Trump win as chance to push on

On a clear day, the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv are visible from the hill above Karnei Shomron, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

“I feel different from Tel Aviv,” said Sondra Baras, who has lived in Karnei Shomron for almost 40 years.

For many who live here, the line between the State of Israel, and the territory they seized from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, has been erased from their narrative.

The audio guides for tourists at the top of the mountain describe the West Bank as “Israeli territory” and the Palestinian city of Nablus as the place where God promised the land to the Jews.

But the legal confiscation of the territory has so far remained a dream for residents like Sondra, even though the settlements – which are considered illegal by the UN High Court and many other countries – have been increasing year by year.

Now many see an opportunity to move forward, with the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.

“I was happy that Trump won,” Sondra said. “I’m very interested in expanding the authority in Judea and Samaria. And I think that’s something that Trump can support.”

There are signs that some in his incoming administration may join him.

Mike Huckabee, Trump’s new ambassador to Israel, expressed his support for Israel’s claims to the West Bank in an interview last year.

“When people mention the word ‘inhabitants,’ I say: ‘Yes, the Israelites are living in the land, but they are living in the land that God gave them 3,500 years ago.

Yisrael Gantz, head of the regional monitoring organization that oversees Karnei Shomron, says he has already seen a change in the Trump administration because of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which led to the war in Gaza.

“Here in Israel and in the US, they understand that we have to exercise authority here,” he told me. “It’s a plan. I can’t tell you tomorrow. But in my eyes, the dream of two countries is over.”

US President Joe Biden has always maintained the US role in supporting a future Palestinian state alongside Israel. Asked if he felt anything different about the incoming Trump administration, Gantz replied, “Yes, yes.”

But there are also signs that Israelis pushing for the annexation of the West Bank – some of them in cabinet positions – may be upset by Trump’s decisions.

Their hopes have been fueled by memories of his first term as president, when he broke US policy – and international consensus – by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights seized from Syria. 1967.

But supporting the annexation of the West Bank may be a bigger and more difficult issue for Trump.

It could alienate Washington’s other key ally, Saudi Arabia, undermining Trump’s chances for regional cooperation.

It could also alienate some Republicans in the US Congress, concerned about the Palestinian cause in the West Bank, and their future under Israeli rule.

Settler leader Sondra Baras told me that West Bank Palestinians who did not want to live in Israel could “go wherever they want”.

When asked why they had to leave their homes, he said: “I’m not chasing them away, but things have changed.”

“If the administration went ahead, there would be a lot of shouting and screaming,” he said. “But at some point, you make an irrevocable point.”

Shortly after Trump’s election last November, Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, publicly called for the closure of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“2025 should be the year of rule in Judea and Samaria,” he said.

Whether the new US president agrees or not, many Palestinians say that the discussion about the annexation misses the point – that Israel, in practice, is an already established state.

One of them is Mohaib Salameh. They lead me past the ruins of their family home, built on private Palestinian land, on the outskirts of Nablus. The building was ruled illegal by an Israeli court last year and demolished.

Israel has full control over security and planning in 60% of the West Bank in the short term, as stated in the Oslo peace agreement thirty years ago.

As the settlements expand, Palestinian housing permits are rarely issued. And lawyers say demolitions like this are on the rise.

“This is all part of a plan to force us to leave,” Mohaib said. “It’s a forced migration policy. What difference does it make to them? [Israelis] if I build here or not? We are not threatening them at all.”

Palestinians are also being forced out of their land by violent Israeli settlers – which have been sanctioned by the US and the UK, but largely unchallenged by Israeli courts at home.

Protesters say more than 20 Palestinians have been displaced from the West Bank in the past few years due to escalating violence, and that settlers are now moving into new areas outside Israeli control.

Mohaib told me that no American president has ever defended the Palestinians, and he doesn’t believe Donald Trump will.

The next American president seems to be an ally of Israel.

But he’s also someone who likes to close deals – and avoid conflict.