United States has said its deeply troubled by Israel’s decision to advance reportedly nearly 10,000 settlement units and begin a process to retroactively legalize 9 outposts in the West Bank that were previously illegal under Israeli law.
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken who made this known in a statement on Monday, stated clearly that like previous adminstration, Democratic and Republican, “we strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution”.
According to him, “As I have previously stated, anything that takes us away from the vision of two states for two peoples is detrimental to Israel’s long-term security, its identity as a Jewish
“And democratic state, and to our vision of equal measures of security, freedom, prosperity, and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
“We call on all parties to avoid additional actions that can further escalate tensions in the region and to take practical steps that can improve the well-being of Palestinian people”, Antony said.
Meanwhile, the new Israeli government on Sunday approved the legalization of nine Jewish settlements in the West Bank that had previously been considered unauthorized outposts while also announced plans to build new settlement homes.
Prime Minister Netanyahu argued that this decision was a response to a string of recent ‘murderous terrorist attacks’ in East Jerusalem. Earlier, he had expressed his willingness to ‘strengthen settlements’ in the West Bank, where over 475K Israelis live.
Despite drawing the condemnation from the United Nations, there are reportedly that more than 200 Israeli settlements built on land where Palestinians seek statehood.
Reacting to this latest decision, Palestinian officials claimed that Israel crossed ‘all red lines’ and undermined the revival of ‘the peace process.’
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, along with defense ministry Bezalel Smotrich, had requested the cabinet to legalize 77 outposts, but that was reportedly considered neither feasible nor acceptable by those participating in the meeting.
The government will have to prove that the outposts — listed as Avigayil, Beit Hogla, Givat Harel, Givat Arnon, Mitzpe Yehuda, Malachei Hashalom, Asahel, Sde Boaz, and Shacharit — were established on what Israel considers to be state land as the High Court of Justice is likely to object to such a move.
The first legalization of outposts by the Israeli government since 2012 was also criticized by the Biden admin., which manifested its opposition to any unilateral moves that could frustrate negotiations toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.