After public US objection to the Israeli advancement of some 3,000 West Bank settlement homes earlier this week, a source close to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the Biden administration doesn’t actually care, and won’t prevent future similar moves.
“Contrary to the impression they’re trying to make, the Americans don’t care that much about the Ministry of Construction and Housing’s decision, and they have no problem tolerating it,” the source said, according to a Friday report from The Times of Israel’s sister site Zman Yisrael.
“This construction is not part of the conversation we are having with the Americans. We noticed that. The Americans understand the political situation here very well, and they do not want to see us go down over this [issue]. They also know what the alternative is,” Zman Yisrael quoted the source close to Bennett as saying.
On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry’s higher planning council, which authorizes West Bank construction, said 1,804 settler units were given the final approval for construction. Another 1,326 units were advanced to a later stage of the planning process.
It is the first time settlement units have been approved during the Biden administration and by the current Israeli government led by Bennett.
Source: Israeli media
