Israel says it will limit the footprint of settlements in West Bank

JERUSALEM - Israel will limit new settlement construction in the West Bank “when possible” to within areas already developed or at least to contiguous areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government announced as a gesture to President Donald Trump as it approved the first new settlement in the territory in two decades.

With the new policy, the government said it would attempt to exercise some restraint in expanding the physical footprint of settlements, though it did not specify any slowdown in construction. Israeli media on Friday reported Netanyahu announced the guidelines at a meeting the night before where his cabinet also approved the new settlement.

Netanyahu had promised to build the new settlement to replace Amona, a settlement outpost built on private Palestinian land that was dismantled in February following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling. Pro-settler hard-liners who dominate his coalition and oppose Palestinian statehood on security or religious grounds had pressed him to keep that promise.

But Netanyahu also faces pressure from Trump to rein in settlement construction to help revive the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu told ministers to take Trump’s position “into consideration,” calling for restraint to be shown “to allow progress in the peace process.”

Under the guidelines, new construction would be built “within existing developed areas, when possible.” If that is not possible then it would be allowed adjacent to already built-up areas. If that also is not possible “because of legal, security or topological constraints,” building would be permitted as close as possible to existing construction.

The new settlement approval was sharply criticized by Palestinians.