Mike Pompeo declares Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not in breach of international law — changing 50 years of US policy

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially announced on Monday that the U.S. government no longer considers West Bank settlements inconsistent with international law.

Pompeo’s announcement marks a major change in U.S. policy. The secretary of state, however, considers his announcement consistent with President Ronald Reagan’s views on the West Bank in the 1980s. Reagan, Pompeo said, reversed the Carter administration’s position that civil settlements were inconsistent with international law.

Pompeo, according to the Jerusalem Post, announced, “After carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees with President Reagan. The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law.”

The change is a departure from the Obama Administration’s decision, in December 2016, to support United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which declared settlements to be a “flagrant violation” of international law.

Pompeo stated, “The hard truth is that there will never be a judicial resolution to the conflict, and arguments about who is right and who is wrong as a matter of international law will not bring peace. This is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.”