U.S. relaxes stance on Israeli settlements

WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the United States no longer considers Israeli settlements in the traditionally Palestinian West Bank a violation of international law. The U.S. government isn’t taking a stance on the legality of any particular settlement, but Pompeo said Israeli courts should resolve legal questions about settlements on a case-by-case basis. He added that denouncing all settlements, as many other nations have done, distracts from efforts to negotiate peace.

What do Israel and Palestine say? Israeli leaders welcomed the decision, but Palestine and the European Union decried it, saying it would undercut the chances of a broader peace deal. The move reverses a U.S. policy going back to 1978 that Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank are out of bounds.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Angela Lu Fulton’s report on the controversy over Israel’s expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.