Bibi: US Settlement Policy Will Stand for Generations

Stand for Israel  |  November 19, 2019

Yesterday, the Trump administration announced that the United States will no longer consider Israeli settlements to be illegal. In light of the decision, The Times of Israel’s Jacob Magid reports, PM Netanyahu lauded his ally’s friendship:

Pompeo at a Monday press conference declared that the US was relaxing its position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood.

The secretary of state repudiated a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The move angered Palestinians and immediately put the US at odds with other nations working to end the conflict.

The Trump administration views the opinion, the basis for longstanding US opposition to expanding the settlements, as a distraction and believes any legal questions about the issue should be addressed by Israeli courts, Pompeo said.

“I confess I’m very moved,” Netanyahu told settler leaders and reporters at the Kfar Etzion settlement. “We’re here, in Gush Etzion, a place we were expelled from during the War of Independence, and here we are on a historic day with another tremendous achievement for the State of the Israel that we worked quite a bit on…”