Oded Revivi, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, an umbrella group of West Bank settlements, said he believed the timing of the announcement sought to both help Mr. Netanyahu remain in power and also bolster Mr. Trump among evangelical and Jewish voters in the United States who support the current right-wing government in Israel. He said it also served as a reminder to right-wing Israelis to reap whatever more windfalls the Trump administration might supply.
“It’s an indication to the Israeli public, look where you can go with this president — you’re wasting time,” said Mr. Revivi, the mayor of Efrat, a West Bank settlement near Jerusalem.
He said the policy shift was a move toward endorsing annexation and also served as a clear indication to the Palestinians who have resisted reopening negotiations with the Trump administration.
Opponents of annexation, however, warn that it puts Israel’s status as a Jewish democracy at risk in two ways: If the West Bank’s Palestinians are made Israeli citizens, the country’s Arabs could quickly outnumber its Jews. If they are not given full citizenship rights, Israel would become an apartheid state.
“We are strong enough to deter and defeat our enemies,” said Nimrod Novik, an aide to Shimon Peres, a former Israeli prime minister who shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his efforts to end the conflict.
Referring to Israel’s air-defense system, Mr. Novik added: “What we don’t have is an Iron Dome system to defend us from friends who threaten to end the Zionist vision.”
A secretive Trump administration plan to revive peace negotiations has been delayed repeatedly, but it is widely believed to bolster Mr. Netanyahu and fail to break a stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians. Few details have been released beyond a call for major new economic development in Palestinian areas.
The Trump administration’s peace effort is run by Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, to deliver what the president has described as the “ultimate deal.”
Lara Jakes reported from Washington, and David M. Halbfinger from Jerusalem. Edward Wong contributed reporting from Washington, and Isabel Kershner from New York.