The United States strongly opposes the expansion of settlements in the West Bank

 

The United States is firmly opposed to the expansion of settlements, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, quoted by The Jerusalem Post.

The talks come amid sharp political differences between the two longtime allies over Iran and the West Bank.

The United States has "explicitly emphasized" its opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements in Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's talks with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday.

  Blinken "strongly stressed that Israel and the Palestinian Authority must refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undermine efforts to reach an agreed solution for the two countries, including advancing settlement activity," said State Department spokesman Ned Price, describing the conversation. .

The two discussed Iran, the Omicron option, the Iron Dome system and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  In particular, it is a project for 9000 new homes, which is planned to be built on the site of the former Kalandia airport in Ataroth, which operated from 1924 to 2000.

According to officials, Israel told the United States last week that it would not make progress on the project, which is scheduled to be discussed by the Interior Ministry's Regional Planning Committee on December 6th.