US Reverts to Longstanding Stance on Israeli Settlements, Contradicting Trump Policy

The Biden Administration on Friday reasserted a longstanding view that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered “illegitimate” under international law, a stance dating back nearly half a century. This move, announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reverses the 2019 decision by then-Secretary Mike Pompeo and marks a departure from the policies of the Trump era.

Blinken’s announcement came amid escalating tensions between the US and Israel, particularly over the war in Gaza and recent Israeli plans to expand settlement construction in the West Bank. This expansion includes over 3,300 new homes, announced in response to a deadly Palestinian shooting attack. The timing of Blinken’s statement coincides with the International Court of Justice’s examination of the legality of Israel’s occupation of the territories.

This shift does not introduce new US policy but rather reinstates the Carter Administration’s legal finding, encapsulated in the 1978 “Hansell Memorandum.” This document, while not labeling settlements “illegal,” deemed them “illegitimate,” influencing US policy for decades. The Biden Administration’s stance reflects its broader Middle East strategy adjustments amid growing international scrutiny over Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

Pompeo commented on the X short messaging platform to the rescinding of his policy, writing, “Judea and Samaria are rightful parts of the Jewish homeland, and Israelis have a right to live there. President Biden’s decision to overturn our policy and call Israeli ‘settlements’ illegal will not further the cause of peace. It rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks on October 7th and punishes Israel instead. These Israeli communities are not standing in the way of peace; militant Palestinian terrorism is.”

Earlier last week, Troy Miller, CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), an international association of evangelical communicators, endorsed a resolution at the NRB’s annual convention to replace the term “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria,” emphasizing the area’s biblical and historic significance to many Christians and Jews.