A White House official confirmed in a statement sent to TIME Magazine journalist Zeke Miller late Thursday that the Trump administration accepts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rationale for building a new town in Binyamin for the homeless residents of the demolished Jewish community of Amona.
Following is the full text of the White House statement.
“President Trump has publicly and privately expressed his concerns regarding settlements. As the Administration has made clear: while the existence of settlements is not in itself an impediment to peace, further unrestrained settlement activity does not help advance peace. The Israeli government has made clear that going forward, its intent is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes the President’s concerns into consideration.
“Over the past several weeks, senior U.S. and Israeli officials have held talks on a range of issues regarding how to improve the overall climate in order to advance the prospects for a genuine and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. As part of those discussions, we have of course discussed settlements. I’m not going to detail those private discussions, beyond saying that they are constructive and serious.
“With regards with the 2,000 settlement tenders in the West Bank, we would note that these particular settlement tenders were announced previously, before President Trump had a chance to lay out any expectations. With regards to the new settlement for Amona residents, we would note that the Israeli Prime Minister made a commitment to the Amona settlers prior to President Trump laying out his expectations, and has consistently indicated that he intended to move forward with this plan. Going forward and as we move into more detailed discussions regarding the possibilities for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace, the Israeli government has made clear that Israel’s intent is to adopt a policy regarding settlement activity that takes President Trump’s concerns into consideration.
“We will continue to work with Israelis and Palestinians, and other players in the region, to create a climate that is conducive to peace. We hope that the parties will take reasonable actions moving forward that create a climate that is conducive to peace.”