Israel PM reduces new settlement units fearing US

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (2nd R) speaks at the weekly cabinet meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on 8 August 2021. [RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has reduced the number of settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories that his government intends to approve next week by more than 1,000 for fear of backlash from America, Israel’s Kan reported.

An Israeli planning council committee is expected to meet next week to approve 2,000 new housing units for illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as about 1,000 units for Palestinians living in the West Bank’s ‘Area C’, which is under Israeli military and administrative control.

The anticipated approval would be the first after a hiatus of almost a year.

Meanwhile, no official date has been set for Bennett’s visit to the US to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House.

READ: Israel to approve 2,200 new settlement units in occupied West Bank

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