U.S. Demand for Settlement Freeze Includes East Jerusalem Neighborhoods
The U.S. demand for a settlement freeze includes Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, according to the State Department.
“We’re talking about all settlement activity, yes, in the area across the line,” said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, in response to a question from the Jerusalem Post about the parameters of settlement stoppage the United States wants from Israel. Kelly’s usage of the term “the line” refers to the Green Line, or pre-1967 armistice border.
Israel does not consider eastern Jerusalem part of the West Bank, although the international community does call housing in that area settlements. Top Israeli government officials told the Post that they were working under the assumption that the U.S. call to halt all settlement growth, including natural growth, did not include 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.
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