US warns against Israeli settlement expansion after reports of new West Bank plans

The Biden administration is reiterating opposition to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank that it says undermines efforts to achieve a two-state solution with the Palestinians, following reports that Jerusalem is preparing to announce thousands more housing units in the politically-fraught territory.

Axios reported on Monday that Israel has informed the United States of building plans that include 4,000 housing units in several existing West Bank settlements, suggesting that construction plans related to an area known as E1 near Jerusalem would likely be included in such an announcement.

White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby on Monday would not confirm if the Israeli government has told Biden officials about plans to announce settlement expansion, but said U.S. policy is consistent in opposing any unilateral decisions to advance Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“We have long made clear our concerns about additional settlements in the West Bank, that we don’t want to see actions taken that are going to make a two-state solution that much more difficult to achieve,” Kirby said during the White House press briefing.

“We don’t want to see steps taken that only increase the tensions and we’ve been very clear about that. Nothing’s changed about our policy.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to balance a coalition of hard-right members that are key to maintaining his grip on power but who’s political demands — to advance plans to annex the West Bank, permit settlement construction and institute a judicial overhaul — have triggered pushback from the Biden administration.

Among the demands from Netanyahu’s coalition members is to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank in areas that, for decades, were off limits as part of attempts to advance a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority. 

Last month, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller issued a statement criticizing the Israeli government’s moves to legitimize the outpost of Homesh in the West Bank that was earlier determined to be built on private, Palestinian land and that went against a policy that had lasted more than 20 years. 

“This order is inconsistent with both former Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon’s written commitment to the Bush Administration in 2004 and the current Israeli government’s commitments to the Biden Administration,” Miller said in the statement at the time. “Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution.”