Published: 24 March 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
The US has also condemned anti-Palestinian statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who denied the existence of the Palestinian people.
The Biden administration summoned Israel's ambassador, Michael Herzog, to express its displeasure over a law that would allow illegal settlement outposts in key areas of the occupied West Bank that were evacuated in 2005.
On Tuesday, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman conveyed to Herzog the administration’s concern regarding the newly adopted legislation.
The State Department offered no other details on the conversation, but the Israeli press stressed that such a meeting is highly unusual between the two countries, reflecting a degradation of relations between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington was “extremely troubled” by the new legislation, calling it “provocative” for violating commitments given to the US by two Israeli governments, under Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu's current one. “We call on Israel to refrain from allowing settlers to return to the area,” Patel said.
But on Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s office clarified that Israel will not establish new settlements in the northern West Bank.
The statement issued by the PM’s office read, "The Knesset's decision to cancel parts of the disengagement law brings an end to discriminatory and humiliating legislation that prohibited Jews from living in the areas of northern Samaria, part of our historical homeland..
"The government has no intention of establishing new settlements in these areas."
The US also expressed concern about a statement by ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that, “There’s no such thing as Palestinian a people.”
