Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 05 October 2016: USA condemn Israeli settlement plans

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnert harshly criticised Israel, accusing it of undermining ‘the pursuit of peace’ with its recently announced West Bank settlement expansion plan. He also claimed that this move contradicts earlier assurances given by Israel to the US. US Department of State strongly condemned the plan, arguing that it represents a breach of Israeli commitments and ‘[calls] into question Israel's commitment to achieving a negotiated peace.’ According to the US, UK and UN the plan, which was approved on Wednesday 28^th September, envisions about 300 housing units and an industrial area in Shiloh, next to an existing Shvut Rachel settlement.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry replied that the plan will not expand settlements, as the approval had been given for only 98 housing units designed to host inhabitants of an illegal settlement in Amona, which the Supreme Court of Israel had ordered in 2014 evacuated and demolished. Moreover, the Israeli government rejected accusations that settlement building undermined the peace process, faulting instead Palestinian refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

While Shiloh settlement expansion is just one of several such plans recently – in August Israeli authorities approved over 287 housing units and legalised further 179 constructions that had been illegally built on the West Bank – it was met with an exceptionally harsh US reaction. US Department of State statement underscored that the decision had been made shortly after the signing of a US-Israel military aid deal worth 38 billion USD. This represents an unprecedented suggestion of a linkage between strategic cooperation and Israel’s commitment to the peace process.