The Takeaway: Settlement plans test Biden’s Israel approach
Plus, the family of an American held by Syria grows more concerned after the earthquake, and the US expresses alarm over Tunisia's wave of recent arrests.
WASHINGTON — While in Israel late last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration would oppose any new settlement expansion or legalization of outposts.
Not long after, Israel’s new right-wing government announced plans to do just that.
On Sunday, Israel’s security Cabinet said it would begin a process to retroactively legalize nine unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank, as well as advance the construction of nearly 10,000 new housing units in established settlements. Israel’s hard-line Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have since doubled down, pledging to further expand settlements on land sought by the Palestinians for a future state.
An Israeli official told Al-Monitor that the Biden administration was given advance notice of the Sunday announcement. Whether US officials were consulted is another story.
