The 'Pot and Frog' Deception: How Israel Swallows the West Bank Without Official Declaration?

The Israeli government is accelerating its steps to impose its dominance over vast areas of the West Bank, exceeding the divisions approved by the Oslo Accords. These measures are not limited to areas classified as 'C', but extend to include areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority in classifications 'A' and 'B'.

The Israeli mini-cabinet, 'the security cabinet', recently approved a package of decisions aimed at enforcing Israeli law within Palestinian Authority areas. These steps include what is called 'land settlement', a procedure aimed at converting vast areas into state lands in preparation for transferring their ownership to settlers.

Legal experts believe that Israel avoids using the term 'annexation' officially to avoid confrontation with international law, which considers the annexation of occupied territories a war crime. Tel Aviv adopts a strategy of 'having its cake and eating it too' by imposing de facto sovereignty without an explicit political declaration.

Historically, Israel applied this model in East Jerusalem after the 1967 occupation, where it imposed its laws and municipal influence over vast areas. Although the reality represents a complete annexation, official Israeli documents completely omitted the word 'annexation' for fear of international legal repercussions.

Currently, Knesset laws are applied in settlements through military orders issued by the commander of the Central Command of the occupation army. This circumventing method allows settlements to become Israeli enclaves subject to income taxes, national insurance, and Israeli election laws indirectly.

The International Court of Justice affirmed in its advisory opinion issued in July 2024 that Israeli practices in the West Bank and Jerusalem amount to de facto annexation. Nevertheless, Israel continues to maneuver by engaging the international community in complex procedural details to distract attention from the strategic goal.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, from his position in the Ministry of Defense, is leading a systematic plan to strengthen settlements and legitimize pastoral outposts. This policy aims to create an irreversible reality on the ground, regardless of the international legal descriptions of what is happening.

Analysts liken Israeli policy to the 'pot and frog' deception, where water is heated very slowly until the victim loses the ability to resist. This gradual nibbling aims to impose Israeli presence 'dunam after dunam' without provoking major international protests that might result from a sudden announcement.

The 'land settlement' step is more dangerous than traditional annexation, because it gives the occupation legal cover to claim ownership of the land and reclaim it. This transformation turns West Bank lands into properties belonging to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, ending any legal possibility of recovering them in the future.

Observers indicate that Israel seeks to create a new cosmic system that empties Palestinian citizenship of its actual content on the ground. The goal is to transform the Palestinian Authority into an entity that issues passports and symbolic gestures, while Israel controls resources and movements.

Statements by Israeli officials and their supporters, such as US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, reinforce the right-wing vision that considers the West Bank an integral part of the 'Land of Israel'. These speeches provide political cover for implementing silent displacement schemes for Palestinians by stripping away hope for statehood.

The commander of the Central Command was granted broad emergency powers that enabled him to bypass the usual legal system and prevent Palestinian construction and confiscate equipment. These powers aim to paralyze any Palestinian urban growth in the targeted settlement areas and facilitate rapid demolition operations.

Property registration in Israeli records is an irreversible measure, and it comes as a completion of the Knesset's decision to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state. This legislative and field path aims to definitively bury the two-state solution and transform the West Bank into isolated cantons under full Israeli sovereignty.

Ultimately, Israel is betting on the factor of time and imposing a fait accompli to change the demography and geography in the West Bank. The strategy of 'creeping annexation' remains the most effective tool for the occupation to achieve its expansionist goals while minimizing the political and diplomatic cost in international forums.

Israel practices the 'pot and frog' policy by gradually nibbling at the West Bank and slowly applying laws to it to avoid international objections.