President Trump has unequivocally rejected any efforts by Israel to formally annex the West Bank. This builds on stark warnings from America’s Gulf allies, including the original Abraham Accords signatory the United Arab Emirates. These warnings have reiterated that formal annexation would cross a “red line.” Nevertheless, de facto annexation efforts, long-underway, have been accelerating in recent months, garnering little attention in Washington. The consequences endanger the daily security and rights of Palestinians; threaten the long-term security and longer-term stability of Israel and the broader region, and run counter to articulated US policy.
Join us for a webinar conversation with Ms. Zaha Hassan, Ambassador (ret.) Yael Lempert, and Colonel (res.) Ron Shatzberg to unpack the consequences of Israeli annexation of the West Bank and its implications for US regional policy.
Speaker Biographies
Zaha Hassan
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Amb. (ret.) Yael Lempert
Vice President for Outreach, Middle East Institute
Colonel (res.) Ron Shatzberg
Co-Executive Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation
Extended Speaker Biographies
Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focus is on Palestine-Israel peace, the use of international legal mechanisms by political movements, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. Previously, she was the coordinator and senior legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership, and was a member of the Palestinian delegation to Quartet-sponsored exploratory talks between 2011 and 2012. She regularly participates in track II peace efforts and is a contributor to The Hill and Haaretz. Her commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and others.
Ambassador (ret.) Yael Lempert joined MEI as the Vice President for Outreach in September 2025. Previously, Ambassador Lempert served for over 27 years as an American diplomat, including as the US Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2023 to 2025. Her other previous positions include Acting Assistant Secretary of State and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs from 2021 through 2023. She served in 2021 as the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in London, and as the Deputy Chief of Mission for the two years prior. She was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and North Africa from 2017 to 2018.
Colonel (res.) Ron Shatzberg is co-Executive Director of the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF). In his current capacity he deals with regional security, border regime, Jerusalem, and cross-border cooperation strategies, as well as with Jordanian-Israeli relations. For 11 years Col. Shatzberg was an adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Laws of Armed Conflict (LoAC) with respect to their relations with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Col. Shatzberg holds a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science, and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution, both from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.