Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, writing in Al Monitor on May 30, reports that tensions between the Biden Administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were aggravated this week when an illegal yeshiva in the West Bank, called Homesh, was moved from private land to Israeli state-owned land, giving it the appearance of government backing. “We are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s recent order that allows its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost in the northern West Bank,” a State Department statement said on Monday.
Caspit notes that throughout decades of controversial Israeli settlement of the West Bank, illegal activities were carried out by the settlers themselves, seeking to expand their hold on the land and periodically clashing with troops sent to dismantle ad hoc settlements. This time, the government — or at least parts of it — is clearly behind the move, in clear provocation of the Palestinians, the Biden administration, and the EU.
“Former military chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, currently an opposition lawmaker, believes the move reflects the unprecedented appointment of two defense ministers,” Caspit writes. “The first is Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in charge of overall defense matters. The second is Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry hard-line nationalist Bezalel Smotrich, who is in charge of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Eizenkot noted that the division of authority among these two is unclear, allowing for murky policy moves and a measure of deniability.”
“‘Israel broke an explicit promise to previous American administrations and also to the current American administration only two months ago,’ Eizenkot said.”
“He was referring to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip” in 2005. “At the time, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon committed to President George Bush not to rebuild the West Bank settlements. He also referred to commitments by the current Netanyahu government at the Aqaba and Sharm al-Sheikh summits to freeze settlement expansion, at least for a few months. In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu committed to the Biden administration that despite the repeal of the 2005 ban two months ago, Israel would not build new outposts on the lands of the four demolished settlements.”
“It’s not just Homesh,” a senior US diplomatic source told Caspit on condition of anonymity, “it’s all that’s happening; it’s the fact that no one bothers to act according to the law anymore; it’s the fact that Smotrich declares that he intends to double the number of settlers in the territories; it’s the fact that there’s a feeling that the Israelis are doing everything to generate provocations in as little time as possible.”
A senior Western diplomatic source in Tel Aviv told Caspit that Netanyahu’s tacit approval of the Homesh resettlement further distances prospects of a breakthrough in renewed efforts to make peace with Saudi Arabia and even Netanyahu’s coveted invitation to the White House.
“Netanyahu is confident that he can continue to go with [the settlers] and pretend not to do so, eliminate any chance of calm in the territories or political negotiations with the Palestinians with one hand, and make peace with Saudi Arabia with the other. In the near future, he will realize that such a maneuver is even beyond his prowess,” said the source.
