Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the United States will be scaling back its policy opposing Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The Trump administration revealed that it will strip down a 1978 State Department legal opinion that found settlements in Palestinian-controlled areas were “inconsistent with international law.” The U.S. previously opposed Israeli settlements encroaching into Palestinian-controlled land in support of the two-state solution.
Pompeo explained that U.S. policy will be to allow Israeli courts to address legal questions presented by expanding settlements in the West Bank. This decision will likely frustrate Palestinians who see the settlements as breaking border agreements between the two sides.
He noted that the administration believes international law will not be able to dictate peace between Israel and Palestine and that “the U.S. will respect decisions on the subject made by Israeli courts.”
“The Trump administration is reversing the Obama administration’s approach towards Israeli settlements,” Pompeo announces. The U.S. will no longer view them as inconsistent with international law https://t.co/gywPb6ga1W pic.twitter.com/Z2lxbDTKpI
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 18, 2019
“Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” Pompeo said. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace.”
With this decision, the Trump administration also broke from a U.N. resolution from the last days of the Obama administration in which the U.S. allowed a condemnation of Israel and ruled the settlements a “flagrant violation” of international law.
[Opinion: Actually, the US shift on Israel West Bank settlements isn’t a big deal]
