American Ambassador Falsely Claims Israel Occupies Only 2% Of West Bank

Image by Forward Montage

By Nathan Guttman September 28, 2017

Breaking with longstanding American policy, the U.S. ambassador to Israel sought to legitimize Jewish settlements in the West Bank and minimized the extent of the Israeli occupation.

In excerpts published from an interview with Israeli website Walla!News, Friedman claimed that Israel is “only occupying 2 percent of the West Bank.” The excerpts did not provide any further explanation backing Friedman’s assertion, which is incorrect.

According to the 1994 internationally recognized deal establishing the Palestinian Authority, Israel maintains full military and civilian control of 60% of the West Bank in addition to military control over another 22% of the area and full control of its borders.

In the interview, Friedman also expressed sympathy to the idea of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, stating that the Jewish settlements have “important nationalistic, historical, religious significance.” When asked if at least part of the settlements will have to be removed as part of a peace agreement, Friedman replied: “wait and see.”

Consecutive American administrations, both Democratic and Republicans, have stated that the US does not support the legitimacy of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Americans for Peace Now called on Trump to recall Friedman for making statements that “blatantly contradict long-held United States policy.” The group’s president Debra DeLee said Friedman’s comments are “outrageous, unacceptable, and flat-out wrong.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO