{"id":111075,"date":"2024-02-25T18:05:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T16:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=111075"},"modified":"2024-02-25T13:40:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T11:40:35","slug":"29-05-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=111075","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Disgrace\u2019: US House speaker slams Biden\u2019s policy on \u2018settlements\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>\u2018Disgrace\u2019: US House speaker slams Biden\u2019s policy on \u2018settlements\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

UPDATE DESK | U.S.-Israel Relations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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“The Jewish people have a historic and legal right to live in the land of Israel including in Judea and Samaria\u2014the biblical heartland,” said Mike Johnson.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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\nSpeaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee field hearing on New York City violent crimes, at the Javits Federal Building in New York City on April 17, 2023. Credit: Lev Radin\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

(February 25, 2024 \/ JNS)<\/strong><\/div>\n

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Saturday slammed as an \u201cabsolute disgrace\u201d the Biden administration\u2019s decision to reverse the \u201cPompeo doctrine,\u201d which held that Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria were not necessarily illegal.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Israel\u2019s approval of 3,000\u00a0new\u00a0housing units<\/a>\u00a0in Judea\u2014announced after one Israeli was killed and six wounded in a\u00a0Palestinian\u00a0terrorist attack<\/a>\u00a0near Jerusalem\u2014was \u201cinconsistent with international law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jewish people have a historic and legal right to live in the land of Israel including in Judea and Samaria\u2014the biblical heartland,\u201d tweeted Johnson. \u201cIt is an absolute disgrace the Biden administration would issue this decision, especially as Israel fights terrorists on multiple fronts that seek Israel\u2019s destruction and as more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Biden administration must stop undermining Israel and facilitating efforts to delegitimize Israel. It is misguided and unconscionable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Blinken\u2019s\u00a0declaration<\/a>\u00a0upended the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cPompeo doctrine,\u201d which held that \u201cthe establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During a trip to Buenos Aires, Blinken said Washington was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in the approval of the new housing units, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s been long-standing U.S. policy, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace. They\u2019re also inconsistent with international law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion, and in our judgment, this only weakens\u2014it doesn\u2019t strengthen\u2014Israel\u2019s security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in 2019 that the Trump administration was reversing an Obama administration policy of describing Israeli \u201csettlements\u201d as inherently illegal under international law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe legal conclusions relating to individual settlements must depend on an assessment of specific facts and circumstances on the ground,\u201d Pompeo said at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said that Blinken\u2019s statement was a return to a consistent U.S. position on the housing units.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t about the previous administration,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are simply reaffirming the fundamental conclusion that these settlements are inconsistent with international law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a position that\u2019s been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations,\u201d Kirby added. \u201cIf there\u2019s an administration that [has been] inconsistent, it was the previous one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In response, Pompeo condemned the move, saying, \u201cJudea and Samaria are rightful parts of the Jewish homeland, and Israelis have a right to live there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s decision to overturn our policy and call Israeli \u2018settlements\u2019 illegal will not further the cause of peace. It rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks on Oct. 7 and punishes Israel instead. These Israeli communities are not standing in the way of peace; militant Palestinian terrorism is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump administration policy \u201csimply recognized reality: Judea and Samaria are the homeland of the Jewish people,\u201d said\u00a0Sen. Tom Cotton<\/a>\u00a0(R-Ark.) on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s shameful that the Biden administration reversed this and rewarded terrorists\u2014all to help Biden\u2019s poll numbers in Michigan,\u201d he added, referring to the battleground state in November\u2019s upcoming U.S. presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding their voices to those criticizing the Biden administration\u2019s position were Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Fla.), who tweeted on Saturday that \u201cJudea & Samaria is Israel. Period,\u201d and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who backed comments by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman regarding the legality of Israeli communities in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ambassador @DavidM_Friedman<\/a> is correct. The Biden Admin\u2019s disgraceful reversal undermines a close friend while rewarding the genocidal terrorists they are fighting. It is not a legal assessment. It is a political calculation meant to appease the pro-Hamas radical left. Shameful. https:\/\/t.co\/i3PcB9UAe0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) February 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n