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Jewish settlements no longer illegal - US US says Israeli settlements are no longer illegal
(32 minutes later)
The US has shifted its position on Israel's Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, no longer viewing them as inconsistent with international law. The US has shifted its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, no longer viewing them as inconsistent with international law.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the status of the West Bank was for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the status of the West Bank was for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate.
Israel immediately welcomed the move - a reversal of the US position under Mr Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.
Settlements are communities established by Israel on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.Settlements are communities established by Israel on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
They have long been a source of dispute between Israel and the international community, and the Palestinians.
President Donald Trump's administration has displayed a much more tolerant attitude towards settlement activity than his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Israel's Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister, Gilad Erdan, tweeted: "I applaud the courageous decision of the American administration."
What is the Jewish settlements controversy?
The issue of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace.
About 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
What US position is Mr Pompeo overturning?
In 1978, the Carter administration concluded that the establishment of civilian settlements was inconsistent with international law, although in 1981 President Reagan disagreed with that conclusion, saying he didn't believe the settlements were inherently illegal.
For decades, the US had described the settlements as "illegitimate", refraining from calling them "illegal" and sheltering Israel from condemnatory resolutions on the issue at the United Nations.
However one of the last acts of the Obama administration, at the end of 2016, was to refrain from usual US practice by not vetoing a UN resolution that urged an end to illegal Israeli settlements.
Mr Pompeo said the Trump administration had studied all sides of the debate and agreed with President Reagan, adding: "The establishment of Israeli civilians settlements in the West Bank is not per se in consistent with international law."