According to Reuters, sources and U.S. officials familiar with the move said that Israel’s plan to add thousands more homes to settlements in the occupied West Bank, which was announced last week, was the last straw the Biden administration needed to declare them “inconsistent” with international law.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the reversal in response to a question during a news conference in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires, rather than the meticulously planned policy rollout customary in Washington. Blinken said reporters, “U.S. policy has long been that new settlements are counter-productive to attaining an enduring peace, throughout Republican and Democratic administrations alike.” “Furthermore, they violate international law.”
The policy shift was a long time in the making but the final decision came together within hours, catching many by surprise and raising questions about why this moment was chosen to return to what had been the U.S. stance for four decades until it was changed by the previous administration of Donald Trump. Just 24 hours before, there were no plans for Blinken to make such an announcement on Friday at the scheduled news conference, sources said. But after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel’s government had agreed plans to approve some 3,300 new homes to be built in settlements, in response to a deadly Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank, U.S. officials concluded the time was right to unveil the shift in the language.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to continue expanding settlements in the West Bank, a move that aligns with the US’s view of the settlements built on territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war as illegal.
The Biden administration has come close to restoring the language to the pre-Trump era, but each time was set aside due to a failure to secure a green light from all senior members of the administration. The decision to make the change underscores the Biden administration’s growing frustration with Netanyahu, who is increasingly at odds with his biggest backer, US President Joe Biden, on issues over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Despite US pressure against reoccupying Gaza, Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel will maintain security over the densely populated enclave once the war ends and has refused to embrace a peace deal that envisages Israeli and Palestinian states side by side. Washington has repeatedly warned Israeli officials that settlement expansion is an obstacle to peace and that Israel must act to stop violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned last week’s Israeli settlement announcement, arguing it undermined the chances of a two-state solution. The State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, stated that settlements are a barrier to peace and weaken Israel’s security.
(Reuters)
