Biden reinstates policy on illegitimacy of Israeli settlements overturned by Trump

(Patria) - The Biden administration on Friday restored a nearly 50-year-old U.S. legal finding that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are "illegitimate" under international law, AP reported.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. believes the settlements are inconsistent with Israel's obligations, reversing a decision by his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, in the latest break by the Biden administration from the pro-Israel policies pursued by former President Donald Trump.

His comments came in response to a journalist's question about the announcement that Israel would build more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the West Bank in response to a deadly Palestinian attack.

It was not clear why Blinken chose this moment, more than three years into his term, to reverse Pompeo's decision, but it comes at a time of rising U.S.-Israeli tensions over the war in Gaza, with the latest announcement only further heightening tensions, and as the United Nations' highest court, the International Court of Justice, holds hearings on the legality of the Israeli occupation.

Biden administration officials did not describe Blinken's comments as a reversal, but rather argued that Pompeo's decision was never formally published.

Biden administration lawyers concluded that Pompeo's decision was merely his opinion, not legally binding, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Whether formally issued or not, Pompeo's announcement in November 2019 was widely accepted as U.S. policy and was not publicly rejected until Blinken spoke on Friday.

Speaking in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, Blinken said the U.S. was "disappointed" to learn of the new settlement plan announced by Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, after three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on cars near the Maale Adumim settlement, killing one Israeli and wounding five.

Blinken condemned the attack but said the U.S. opposes settlement expansion and made clear that Washington would once again adhere to the legal finding from the Carter administration that established settlements are inconsistent with international law.

"It has been longstanding U.S. policy under Republican and Democratic administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving lasting peace," he said at a press conference with Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino.

"They are also inconsistent with international law. Our administration firmly opposes settlement expansion, and in our assessment, it only weakens, not strengthens, Israel's security," Blinken said.

For decades, U.S. policy on settlements was guided by a 1978 decision known as the "Hansell Memorandum," written by then-State Department Legal Adviser Herbert Hansell. Hansell's finding does not say settlements were "illegal," but rather "illegitimate." Nevertheless, the memorandum shaped decades of U.S. policy on the issue.

Pompeo discarded that policy in November 2019. The Biden administration long considered reinstating it as it sought to recalibrate its Middle East strategy. Those considerations gained momentum as Israel's response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 drew increasingly intense international criticism.