Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the US government will no longer consider Israel’s West Bank settlements “inconsistent” with the international law, a move that may further dim the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Pompeo said in a press conference on Monday that the decision, which reversed the Obama administration’s position on the issue, had been made based on the “reality on the ground.”
Pompeo’s remarks were seen as the latest act by the Trump administration to take side with Israel, following its widely criticized recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and the official relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, Xinhua news agency reported.
The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014, mainly over Israel’s continuing expansion of the settlements in the West Bank.