In a separate speech to his Blue and White Knesset members, Mr Gantz added that he had ordered Mr Kochavi to “examine all the ramifications and the required preparations” that would result from such a step.
Haaretz reported in May that Mr Kochavi had issued an alert to army commanders regarding violence in the West Bank ahead of July, and over the past few weeks the IDF has been preparing to implement operational plans in such an eventuality.
Annexations form part of the "peace plan" announced in January by American President Donald Trump, which envisages Israeli annexations of a large tranche of the occupied West Bank in exchange for a rump Palestinian state under Israeli security control an unspecified time in the future.
Jerusalem's exact intentions as to a timetable and which areas it is seeking to annex have yet to be finalised, and discussions are underway in an Israeli-American mapping committee.
Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza have rejected the peace plan, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who runs the West Bank, announced that Palestinian security forces would be cutting ties with the Israeli military in protest at the move.
Sami Abu Zuhri, an official with Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, told Reuters: “The call of the occupation army to get ready for the annexation of the West Bank is a call for war, and the occupation will regret this crime, and soon realise they are committing a grave mistake.”
