White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed on Thursday Washington’s dismay over recent moves by the Israeli government for expanding West Bank settlements, echoing similar statements earlier in the week by other senior American officials.
Jean-Pierre noted that the Biden administration strongly opposes any unilateral measures that exacerbate tensions. “Settlement expansion and construction in the heart of the West Bank, including the legalization of outposts, create facts on the ground that undermine a two-state solution,” she noted.
Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s office issued a statement, noting that Israeli decisions on expanding settlement construction went against longstanding US policy maintained by both Democratic and Republican administrations.
The Thursday statement of Jean-Pierre was issued one day only after a Knesset preliminary vote on repealing part of the 2005 Gaza disengagement law. If approved by two more Knesset readings, the new law will rescind the ban on Israeli settlements in the northern part of the Samaria West Bank region, which has been in force for 17 years. At the time, Israel decided to withdraw unilaterally not only from the Gaza Strip but also from four small West Bank settlements — Homesh, Sanur, Ganim and Kadim. Despite periodic attempts by settlers to return there, which usually end in their removal by soldiers, the ban has been maintained — until now.
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