What You Need to Know About Trump’s Statement on Israeli Settlements

In the two weeks since President Trump took office, an emboldened Israeli government cast off international criticism and approved the construction of thousands of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build an entirely new West Bank settlement, despite a commitment to the United States dating to the 1990s that Israel would not do so.

On Thursday, the Trump administration broke its silence, calling for immediate curbs on the Israeli construction but also signaling a shift away from the Obama administration’s rejection of all settlement activity. Since then, both Israelis and Palestinians have been parsing the implications.

What changes with the White House statement on settlements?

The statement was a departure from the policy of previous administrations, which viewed settlements as an obstacle to peace, and particularly from President Barack Obama’s determination that the settlements are “illegitimate.” But it also places limitations, and indicates that Mr. Netanyahu may have taken too much liberty with his pronouncement about a new settlement.

“While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace,” the White House stated, “the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”

While the White House said it had not yet taken an official position on settlement activity, its statement hinted at the kind of understandings that Israel had with President George W. Bush.

In a 2004 letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, Mr. Bush articulated a policy that allowed for continued Israeli building in major settlement blocs that Israel intended to keep under any permanent deal with the Palestinians, possibly by compensating the Palestinians with land swaps.

Mr. Bush cited “new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers,” and said they should be taken into consideration in redrawing the borders between Israel and the West Bank.

For now, though, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process long at an impasse, the Palestinians and most of the world consider all settlement building as a violation of international law.

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