Dear Mr. Blinken: Israel's Latest Settlement Push Undermines U.S. Diplomatic Pretense
Secretary Blinken, The New Arab reported this week that Israel is quietly advancing proposals for another settlement in the occupied West Bank, specifically in the E1 area east of Jerusalem. This move, if realized, would effectively bisect the West Bank, making true Palestinian contiguity and any viable future state impossible. It is a direct challenge to the very notion of a two-state solution, a
concept your department frequently reiterates, yet consistently fails to defend in practice. While your State Department issues perfunctory statements of concern, such as previous declarations that these settlements are 'inconsistent with international law,' you allow these actions to continue unchecked. What mainstream outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post often downplay or
frame as a mere 'impediment to peace,' is, in reality, a deliberate, systematic annexation of Palestinian land funded indirectly by US taxpayers. The consistent pattern shows that vague diplomatic objections from Washington serve as little more than political theater when direct economic or military consequences are never applied to Israel's expansionist policies. This latest push mirrors actions
since 1967, when Israel began establishing settlements following the Six-Day War, actions deemed illegal under international law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own population into occupied territory. The US has provided Israel with more than $160 billion in bilateral assistance since its founding, the vast majority of it military