The Biden administration’s recent move to overturn the “Pompeo Doctrine,” which affirmed the legality of Jewish settlements in the biblical heartland of the Holy Land, has ignited significant backlash.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced his disappointment, stating to Fox News Digital, “By rescinding the Pompeo Doctrine, President Biden is choosing to disregard the reality that Judea and Samaria belong to Israel, mistakenly seeing it as a barrier to peace, echoing the misstep of his predecessor in the Obama administration.”
The Israeli people have an undeniable & indisputable historical & legal claim over Judea and Samaria.
I introduced legislation to require all U.S. legal documents to use the term "Judea and Samaria" to refer to this territory instead of the "West Bank." https://t.co/eXyPASyWy0
— Rep. Claudia Tenney (@RepTenney) March 4, 2024
In November 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, under the Trump administration, declared that Israeli settlements were not “inconsistent with international law.” Pompeo argued that this change aimed to correct the Obama-era policy, which deemed the establishment of civilian settlements a violation of international law. Pompeo and Trump criticized the previous approach, stating it hadn’t “worked” and didn’t “advance the cause of peace.”
Recently, Antony Blinken has hinted at a reversal of the “Pompeo Doctrine,” expressing disappointment in Israel’s announcement of plans to build new housing in the occupied West Bank. Blinken suggested that such plans could hinder the prospects of achieving a lasting peace, as reported by Reuters.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich disclosed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers had agreed to convene a planning council to approve approximately 3,300 homes in settlements, following a deadly Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank.
