Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday afternoon that the United States is rebuking the State Department’s own 1978 legal opinion that Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank territories are “inconsistent with international law.”
“Calling the establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent with international law has not advanced the cause of peace,” Pompeo said in a speech that is likely to anger Palestinians. “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace.”
This is the Trump administration’s latest policy shift that could further diminish Palestinians’ hope for their own state, following President Donald Trump closing the Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington and moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem after recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.
