White House Won’t Criticize First New Israeli Settlement In 20 Years
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — White House officials appeared to show understanding for the Israeli government’s decision to build a new settlement in the West Bank for the first time in 20 years, despite condemnations at the United Nations and by the Palestinians of the move.
One official told the Times of Israel yesterday that “we would note that the Israeli prime minister made a commitment to the Amona settlers prior to President Trump laying out his expectations” that Israel reduce construction in settlements. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s security cabinet gave the go-ahead for the building of a settlement for Jewish residents of Amona, a West Bank outpost of 40 homes that was evacuated in February.
In February, President Donald Trump said that he would like to see Israel “hold back on settlements a little bit.” Earlier in February, Trump had said settlement expansion “may not be helpful” in achieving peace.
The official interviewed by Times of Israel also indicated that Jerusalem had agreed to restrain settlement construction — but after the new community.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward What the election of Mark Carney would mean for Canadian Jews and Israel
-
Fast Forward Over 500 rabbis sign letter rejecting Trump’s antisemitism agenda
-
Fast Forward AJC, USC Shoah Foundation announce partnership to document antisemitism since World War II
-
Fast Forward Chicago mayor donned keffiyeh for Arab Heritage Month event, sparking outcry from Jewish groups
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 3
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 4
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward What the election of Mark Carney would mean for Canadian Jews and Israel
-
Fast Forward Over 500 rabbis sign letter rejecting Trump’s antisemitism agenda
-
Film & TV In ‘The Rehearsal,’ Nathan Fielder fights the removal of his Holocaust fashion episode
-
Fast Forward AJC, USC Shoah Foundation announce partnership to document antisemitism since World War II
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.