Israel’s new settlements could test ties with Biden
He has tougher stance on issue than Trump
JERUSALEM – President-elect Joe Biden might never forget Ramat Shlomo.
On a visit to Israel in 2010, Biden was caught off guard when authorities announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in the sprawling Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem. The incident embarrassed Biden and sparked a diplomatic rift with the Obama administration that never quite healed. Yet despite Biden’s opposition to the project, a decade later, Ramat Shlomo has ballooned.
The episode could foreshadow what lies ahead under the Biden administration – with a U.S. president opposed to Israeli construction on occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians but seemingly limited in his ability to stop it, particularly when dealing with a changing Middle East and preoccupied by domestic priorities.
The coming two months provide a key test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the matter. The Israeli leader, a longtime supporter of the settlements, might seek to take advantage of the final days of the settlement-friendly Trump administration and push through last-minute construction. But doing so could antagonize the incoming administration.
Settlement supporters and critics expect Netanyahu to proceed with caution. With the Biden administration expected to reengage with Iran over its nuclear program, Netanyahu’s top security concern, he seems unlike
ly to pick a fight with the presidentelect. Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has delivered a number of diplomatic gifts to Netanyahu, including the withdrawal of the U.S. from the international nuclear deal with Iran, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there. The Trump administration recently brokered three normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries.
In a break from his Republican and Democratic predecessors, Trump also has taken a much softer line toward the settlements. Trump’s administration declared last year that it did not consider the settlements to be illegal under international law. Then, in January, Trump unveiled a Mideast plan that envisions placing parts of the West Bank, including all of the settlements, under
permanent Israeli control.
Israel this year appeared poised to begin annexing West Bank territory under the Trump plan but was dissuaded as part of the deal establishing ties with the United Arab Emirates. Nonetheless, Israel has ramped up plans to build thousands of new homes throughout the West Bank.
Biden, while claiming to have “ironclad” support for Israel, has indicated he will reverse many of Trump’s decisions. He has come out against unilateral annexation and supports a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Although he has said he will not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv, he is expected to reopen the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem that managed relations with the Palestinians and restore hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Palestinians that Trump cut off.