Wednesday October 27, 2021
Construction plans in Palestinian Territory
USA sharply criticize Israel’s settlement building
A two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians – an ideal for US President Biden. For Israel’s Prime Minister Bennett, however, it is more of a horror scenario. Bennett continues to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank. For the first time in years, the US has shown a clear edge against these plans.
The US government has heavily criticized the new Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank. “We are deeply concerned about the Israeli government plan,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price in Washington. The US government “firmly” rejects the expansion of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as this runs counter to efforts to de-escalate and jeopardizes the prospects for a two-state solution. This solution model for the Middle East conflict means the peaceful coexistence of the Palestinians’ own state and the state of Israel.
Price announced that the US government would discuss the settlement plans with Israeli officials in camera. It is the first time in years that the US has publicly and harshly criticized Israeli settlement policy. US President Joe Biden is thus sharply deviating from the course of his predecessor Donald Trump. Under Trump, the US had given blanket approval of Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territory.
The Israeli government announced the construction of more than 1,300 new settler homes in the West Bank over the weekend. The housing ministry announced that “tenders for 1355 residential units” had been published. They are to be built in seven existing settlements. The Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, and there are often conflicts between settlers and Palestinian residents. It was the first such decision by the new Israeli government under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. He has been head of government since June and leads a broad coalition alliance to which both far left and far right parties belong.
Bennett is considered a sharp opponent of a two-state solution. His Jamina party has many supporters among the Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Nonetheless, unlike that of his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett’s government is trying to bring about rapprochement with the Palestinian leadership in the conflict. Only recently, for the first time since 2009, the Israeli authorities issued registration permits to Palestinians without documents in the West Bank.