Members of Israel’s security establishment have warned that annexation risks undermining or destroying important cornerstones of Israel’s security strategy, while provoking outrage in the West Bank.

Unilateral Israeli annexation means the deliberate prevention of the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead of a negotiated peace agreement on the basis of two-states for two peoples, it is designed to thwart the Palestinian right to self-determination and prevent a viable, mutually agreed resolution to the conflict.

Annexation threatens Israel’s vital peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt, undercutting decades of peaceful relations and destabilising Jordan. Furthermore, it will seriously harm other strategic relationships in the region.

Israel's unilateral annexation will undermine its critical relationships with democratic countries abroad that have offered support to Israel since its establishment -- and may even trigger serious punitive action.

Annexation is inimical to Israel’s character and standing as a democracy. It takes Israel fully down an anti-democratic road to permanent authoritarian rule over another people, unending injustice and inequality -- and corrodes democratic institutions within Israel.

While decades of “creeping” or de facto annexation through settlement construction and expansion has already dramatically impacted Palestinian human rights, de jure annexation will likely create systems that will lead to further deterioration of the situation on the ground for Palestinians.

Unilateral Israeli annexation of the West Bank would constitute a major transgression of international laws and norms. The prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force has underpinned the international order that emerged after the ravages of World War II. 

Jewish communities around the world are overwhelmingly supportive of a two-state solution and opposed to policies of annexation and perpetual occupation. Annexation forces them to choose between defending indefensible Israeli policies and living up to their own democratic values.