Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Eugene

(62,627 posts)
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 05:39 PM Sep 2017

Israel only occupies 2% of West Bank, says US ambassador

Source: The Guardian

Israel only occupies 2% of West Bank, says US ambassador

David Friedman also says international community always intended for Israel to keep some of the land it seized in 1967

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem
Thursday 28 September 2017 15.45 BST

The US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has made a second dramatic intervention in US Middle East policy, suggesting that only 2% of the West Bank is occupied by Israel and that the international community always intended for Israel to keep some of the land it seized during the six-day war in 1967.

The comments, made in an interview with the news channel Israeli Walla, came a day after rightwing Israeli politicians celebrated 50 years of Israeli settlement building, prompting condemnation by Palestinian officials.

“I think the settlements are part of Israel,” Friedman said, in comments that seem at odds with decades of US foreign policy.

“I think that was always the expectation when resolution 242 was adopted in 1967,” he said, referring to the UN security council resolution made at the end of the six-day war, when Israeli forces occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/israel-occupies-small-fraction-of-west-bank-claims-us-ambassador
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Israel/Palestine»Israel only occupies 2% o...