During his visit wrap-up on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance criticized the Israeli parliament's West Bank "annexation" vote as an "insult", a scathing remark that came just as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his own upcoming travel to "Israel".

Vance said that if the Knesset vote was a "political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt," while speaking on the tarmac of Tel Aviv's international airport before departing "Israel".

"I personally take some insult to it," the US vice president stated, emphasizing that "the policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel." 

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that a move by the Israeli Knesset toward "annexing" parts of the occupied West Bank could jeopardize President Donald Trump's plan to end the war on Gaza.

“I mean, that’s a vote in the - yeah, that’s a vote in the Knesset, but obviously I think the president’s made clear that’s not something we’d be supportive of right now, and we think it’s potentially threatening to the peace deal," Rubio told reporters late on October 23.

On October 22, the Knesset narrowly adopted in its preliminary reading a bill to apply Israeli "sovereignty" over the West Bank, passing it despite diplomatic pressure and attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to slow down the process. The Knesset also passed another, more limited bill to "annex" Ma'ale Adumim. 

This comes despite Trump telling reporters at the White House in September, "I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank," and asserting, "It's not going to happen."