Israel interprets US settlements statement as green light

Israeli officials yesterday welcomed what they took as US consent to expand existing settlements, after the White House reversed a long-standing policy of condemning building on occupied land.

In its first substantive announcement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Trump administration said it did not see existing settlements hampering peace with the Palestinians, although it recognised that “expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal”.

At one level, that appeared to be an attempt to rein in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has announced wide-ranging settlement expansion plans since the 20 January inauguration, including around 6,000 new homes.

But on closer reading, the statement was soft because it does not view settlements as an obstacle to peace or rule out their expansion within existing blocs.

“Netanyahu will be happy,” a senior Israeli diplomat said in a text message. “Pretty much carte blanche to build as much as we want in existing settlements as long as we don’t enlarge their physical acreage. No problem there.”

Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely from the right-wing of Netanyahu’s Likud party, interpreted it in a similar way, saying construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem would go on unhindered.

“It is also the opinion of the White House that settlements are not an obstacle to peace and, indeed, they have never been an obstacle to peace,” she said. “Therefore, the conclusion is that more building is not the problem.”

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians.

Since taking office, President Trump has largely kept quiet on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, making no comment in response to Netanyahu’s announcements for thousands more settler homes, a silence interpreted as endorsement. During the campaign, Trump said he would not interfere or push Israel to negotiate on a two-state solution to the conflict.

He has nominated David Friedman as ambassador to Israel, a religious Jew who has raised money for the settlements and supports moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump supported that idea during the election campaign, but it has been put on the back-burner in recent weeks.