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US support for settlement expansion emboldens Israel: Analyst

Wednesday, 25 January 2017 7:18 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 25 January 2017 7:36 PM ]

A picture taken from the West Bank city of Ramallah shows a construction site in the Israeli settlement of Beit El, on January 25, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli regime has approved some 3,000 settler units in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds since US President Donald Trump's inauguration last week.

A political analyst from the Australian city of Perth believes Tel Aviv is enforcing its expansionist settlement policies with Washington’s green light.

President Donald Trump’s administration has fallen short of condemning Israel’s plans to construct more settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Palestinian officials have said they are "shocked" by the White House's silence on Israeli settlement expansion, urging Trump to clarify his policy in this regard.

“Trump all through his electioneering campaign vowed support to Israel and that the bond between Israel and US is unbreakable,” Jafar Ramini, author and political analyst, told Press TV on Wednesday.

“So, this is not [surprising] that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has announced these new settlements,” Ramini noted.

The commentator argued that Trump’s support for Israel has prompted Tel Aviv to defy a December resolution by the UN Security Council, which urged an end to Israeli settlement activities.

Before November 8th presidential election, the business mogul underlined that “the bond between Israel and US is unbreakable,” the analyst added.

“If we look at the prospective administration around Mr. Trump, they are all Jews with Israel as their first priority,” he noted.

US President Donald Trump (L) congratulates his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner after the swearing-in of senior staff in the East Room of the White House on January 22, 2017 in Washington, (Photo by AFP)

According to Ramini, the new president’s pick for the US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a supporter of Israeli settlement activities indeed.

Jared Kushner, the president’s senior adviser, “is another one of the settlement supporters and financiers,” the author pointed out.

In a phone call on Sunday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed a range of issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ways to advance and strengthen US-Israel special relationship.

“Netanyahu has asked ... Trump for his approval to this move (new settlement building) and ... Trump gave him the nod,” the analyst concluded.

Over 230 Israeli settlements have been constructed in the occupied Palestinian territories since the 1967 occupation of Palestine.

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