Washington:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on Sunday to oppose Israeli settlements or annexation in the West Bank, but vowed to judge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government by actions, not personalities.
Netanyahu is expected to return to power after concluding a coalition deal with far-right movements, including Religious Zionism, to take control of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking to J Street, a progressive pro-Israel American advocacy group, Blinken congratulated the veteran Israeli leader, who has clashed with previous Democratic administrations in Washington.
“We will measure the government by the policies it pursues rather than by individual personalities,” Blinken said.
But he said President Joe Biden’s administration would work “relentlessly” to maintain a “horizon of hope,” however dim, for the creation of a Palestinian state.
“We will also continue to unequivocally oppose all acts that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution, including but not limited to settlement expansion, moves towards annexation of the West Bank, disruption of the historic status quo of holy sites, demolitions and evictions, and incitement to violence,” said Blinken.
Blinken said the Biden administration will push for “core democratic principles, including respect for the rights of LGBTQ people and the equal administration of justice for all citizens of Israel.”
Among the far-right groups in Netanyahu’s coalition will be Noam, whose leader Avi Maoz strongly opposes LGBTQ rights.
Netanyahu was quick to say the Jerusalem Pride march will go ahead, contradicting Maoz who has vowed to cancel it.
The leader of Religious Zionism, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is expected to play a key role, is a staunch advocate of Jewish settlement and hung in his living room a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian worshipers at a mosque in Hebron in 1994 .
The November 1 elections were Israel’s fifth in less than four years and came after the collapse of a motley coalition trying to keep out the scandal-ridden Netanyahu.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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