For Bennett, harsh U.S. criticism over settlements has some political advantages

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett figured he could give a wink to the Israeli right wing and promote some token construction in the settlements. He initiated a fairly limited move by approving the construction of thousands of housing units there, and cloaked this with a gesture to the Palestinians, including 1,300 building permits, the first time this has happened in a decade. He hoped that his protective vest of left-wing coalition parties would encourage the international community to contain the move, signaling that this was a tax he had to pay to bolster the right wing of his coalition, not a renewed upsurge in settlement expansion.

The U.S. administration was unimpressed and rushed to issue harsh public condemnation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, warning of the American reaction if these plans were approved. He also dispatched his spokesman Ned Price to express the United States’ objection. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is highly esteemed in Israel, transmitted a harsh message to Bennett in recent days. The American protest cited the intention of building in settlements deep inside Palestinian territory.

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Assessments in Jerusalem are that the first dramatic confrontation between U.S. President Joe Biden and Bennett is a limited one, calculated and under control. No one expected such a move to pass quietly by senior Democrats. The fact that at the same time, in an unplanned fashion, another public feud erupted between the two countries over the designation of six Palestinian human rights organizations as terrorist organizations only added fuel to the flames.

In its essence, this is unnecessary friction that’s clouding relations between the two states. But for Bennett, harsh American criticism has some advantages, giving him some political points. On one hand, the combative declarations against settlement construction inflate the significance of the limited step Bennett took, signaling to the right that this must be a major move. On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s Office realizes that similar plans will prove hard to initiate in the future, partly out of concern for the coalition’s integrity. They can now blame the tough U.S. president and the international community.

Last August, on the eve of his meeting with Biden, Bennett gave an extensive interview to The New York Times. “This government will neither annex [land in the territories] nor form a Palestinian state, everyone gets that,” explained the prime minister in describing the clear guidelines of the right-left coalition he had cobbled together. This declaration became his calling card in his meetings with world leaders, as well as a safety net in the face of the international community.

Thus, even though Biden had committed to reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, one that serves the city’s Palestinian population, he decided to postpone this initiative following Israeli pressure. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid warned during his trip to Washington that such a move, coming before the approval of the budget in Israel, would cause right-wing parties to leave the coalition and lead Israel to a fifth election.

U.S. President Joe Biden, right, meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House in August.NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP

Bennett has never hidden his intention to proceed with limited construction in the settlements. “Israel will continue the standard policy of natural growth,” he clarified in the Times interview, which preceded his successful visit to the White House. A similar message was given by senior officials in his office in conversation with their American counterparts. They noted that the United Arab List, Meretz and Labor would in any case foil any significant move that might upset the status quo.

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The approval of the current plan pales besides construction plans promoted by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Trump administration. On Tuesday, the Israeli Civil Administration governing the West Bank approved the construction of 3,144 housing units, with only 1,344 receiving final approval. The nongovernmental group Peace Now reported a year ago that 2020 was a record year in the promotion of building plans in the settlements. In the first 10 months of 2020, the number of approved housing units stood at 12,159. Ninety-one percent of these were in isolated settlements, which Israel might have to evacuate in some future peace agreement. Peace Now said this was a record number for the preceding two decades.

The significant international pitfalls Bennett will now encounter will play into the hands of the opposition. Lawmaker Miki Zohar (Likud) rushed to warn of the implications for the settlements of a rift with the U.S. “The Biden administration’s declaration against construction in Judea and Samaria should worry us all, especially when there’s a government that depends on the votes of the left and the Islamic Movement,” tweeted Zohar.