JERUSALEM (AP) – The group representing Israeli settlers on Friday brushed off a White House statement warning Israel about constructing new settlements in West Bank territory that Palestinians claim for their future state, saying instead that it looks forward to “working closely with our friends” in the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump has been perceived as sympathetic to the settlements, an issue at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict that was a frequent source of friction between his predecessor and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli nationalists now believe they have an ally in the White House, and have made no secret they will push for more settlements in the West Bank.
But on Thursday, the White House said that the administration doesn’t “believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”
The U.S. statement came just several hours after Netanyahu vowed to establish the first new West Bank settlement in over two decades “as soon as possible,” promising to make up for a court-ordered demolition of an illegal settlement outpost. Israeli security forces dismantled Amona earlier in the day amid clashes between police and dozens of hard-line settlers who had barricaded themselves inside a synagogue.
The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem along with the Gaza Strip – areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war – for their state. The Palestinians and much of the international community consider all Israeli settlements illegal and view them as an obstacle to reaching a two state solution to the conflict.