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“Contrary to the impression they are trying to make, America doesn’t really care about the decisions of the construction and housing ministries, and they have no problem tolerating them,” said an unnamed official, quoted by the Israeli news website Zman Yisrael, Friday (10/29). /2021).
Read: Israel Decides to Build 3,000 New Settlement Units in West Bank Despite US Pressure
The statement by the official, who is close to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, came after the US said it objected to Israel’s plans to build some 3,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.
“This construction is not part of the conversation we have with America. We noticed that. America understands the political situation here very well, and they don’t want to see us down because of [masalah] this. They also know what the alternative is, ”added the office.
In the middle of this week, Israel’s military committee gave the go-ahead for the construction of 1,800 houses, and pre-approval for another 1,344 units in the West Bank. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was concerned about “plans to advance thousands of settlement units”.
Read: US Angry Israel Continues Construction of New Jewish Settlement Housing Units
“We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements, which is in no way consistent with efforts to de-escalate tensions and to ensure calm,” Price said. “Our Israeli partners know where we stand, and we will continue to engage with them in our diplomacy in this regard,” he said.
Since taking office in January, Biden and his top aides have been reluctant to criticize Israel publicly. They have only issued general warnings against measures they say jeopardize the ‘two-state solution’.
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