Israeli leader OKs plans for thousands of new settlements

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved building plans for 3,736 new units in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, in what activists say is part of a new wave of construction spurred by the Trump administration’s more accommodating stance.

The units will be built in numerous settlements, including some of the more contentious communities of Hebron, Migron and Beit El, a settlement on the outskirts of the de facto Palestinian capital, Ramallah, said an Israeli official who discussed the announcement on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Some of the units, which include homes, communal buildings and institutions, are slated for isolated communities that sit deep inside the territory Palestinians hope for a future state.

Most nations consider the settlements illegal. Israel disputes that.

“This year is looking to maybe even be a record year,” said Hagit Ofran, director of Settlement Watch for the left-wing Peace Now organization, referring to the number of new units approved. “It’s without doubt due to the fact that there have been changes in the White House.”

President Donald Trump has said that settlements are “not a good thing for peace,” but announcements of plans to build thousands of new units since his inauguration have been met with limited rebuke.

The settlements expanded under former President Barack Obama, but his administration was more vocal in its opposition.

In December, Obama broke with U.S. custom by declining to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution labeling Israeli settlements as illegal.