ISRAEL’S prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is in a bind. He prefers the status quo whereby Israel occupies the West Bank, allowing the 2.9m Palestinians there limited autonomy though not a full state. But the settlers’ lobby, which wants to annex “Judea and Samaria” to Israel proper, is crucial to his coalition.
He tried to placate them this week by approving plans for more than 3,000 new homes, mainly in Jewish neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and the big “settlement blocs” which are expected to be part of Israel in any future solution. But he was only partially successful: one important settlers’ organisation immediately complained that he should have authorised many more buildings.
Like other governments, Israel is also trying to work out what Donald Trump’s foreign-policy priorities are, and how that might affect their domestic calculations. One indication of change came on January 24th, when the White House refused to comment on the new settlement plans. In the past, similar moves were met with automatic condemnation as obstacles to peace. The testy relationship with the former president, Barack Obama, had its uses...Continue reading
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