{"id":20421,"date":"2017-01-25T11:42:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T11:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=20421"},"modified":"2017-01-25T11:42:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T11:42:54","slug":"israel-approves-2500-west-bank-settlement-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/israel-approves-2500-west-bank-settlement-homes.html","title":{"rendered":"Israel approves 2,500 West Bank settlement homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Israel approves 2,500 West Bank settlement homes<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Israel approves 2,500 West Bank settlement homes:-<\/strong> Emboldened by Donald Trump’s presidency, Israel approved 2,500 settler homes in the West Bank on Tuesday, a sign the new U.S. chief executive will tolerate construction that the Obama administration and United Nations only recently condemned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are returning to normal life in Judea and Samaria,\u201d Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, using the Israeli government’s names for the West Bank, which Palestinians claim as theirs for a future independent state.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision was agreed upon \u201cin response to local housing needs,\u201d Lieberman said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump has not specifically endorsed expanded settlements, but he has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a break from U.S. policy that calls for negotiations between Israel and Palestinians on the future of the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re building \u2014 and will continue to build,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Facebook after Israel approved the new settlements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the latest settlement plans, saying they would \u201cpromote extremism and terrorism,\u201d according to the Times of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday, Netanyahu had his first phone call with Trump since he became president. The two leaders discussed ways to \u201cadvance and strengthen the U.S.-Israel special relationship\u201d and to increase security and stability in the region, the White House said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Defense Ministry statement said about 100 of the units were approved to be built in isolated settlements such as Beit El.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beit El has received donations from Trump\u2019s son-in-law and key adviser, Jared Kushner, and the new president’s designated U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under international law, Israeli settlements \u2014 built on land occupied by Israel \u2014 are considered to be illegal. Some 600,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem and on the West Bank. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Obama administration had condemned the settlements, saying Israel and Palestinians should first negotiate borders for a separate Palestinian state.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.N. Security Council weighed in last month by passing a resolution condemning Israeli settlements. Trump assailed the vote, as well as the Obama administration for allowing the resolution to pass rather than using its veto.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2017\/01\/24\/israel-approves-west-bank-settlement-homes\/96987028\/<\/span><\/div>\n

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