The head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken warned today that the United States will oppose the building of new Jewish settlements by the next Israeli government in the occupied West Bank, as Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to return to power thanks to a coalition with the far right.
“We will also continue to strongly oppose any action that jeopardizes the two-state solution, including the expansion of Jewish settlements, measures to annex the West Bank, disruption of the historic status quo of the holy sites, demolitions and evictions and incitement to violence”the secretary of state said during an intervention at the American progressive pro-Israel organization J Street.
The right-wing coalition and its ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies won a majority in Israel’s November 1 parliamentary election, with 64 seats from 120 of parliament, allowing Benjamin Netanyahu to begin negotiations to form a government. During this process, Netanyahu on Thursday signed a coalition agreement with one of the three far-right parties, which thus won an important position in the development of settlement activity in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
More than 475,000 Israelis live today in Jewish settlements in the West Bank –– illegal under international law – about four times as many as when the Oslo Accords were signed in the 1990s; which did not lead to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Source: News Beast
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