AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE FROM OBAMA TO TRUMP

Abstract

In this article, the author examines the Obama and Trump administration's policies toward Israeli settlements by making a comparative study. It claims that the policy of the United States during this period was "strategic continuity and doctrinal change in response to domestic political considerations and changing conceptions of international law. The Obama administration has called Israel's building of settlements a key problem in an eventual two-state deal and said it is calling for less action by Israel and more by the Palestinians. But its agenda was hampered by congressional opposition, the polarization of parties and Israeli right-wing coalition politics. In contrast, the Trump administration took a major policy shift that repudiated historic legal interpretations, accepted Israeli territorial claims and even affirmed the immutability of major settlement blocs including those around East Jerusalem. The study uses a mixed methods research approach involving qualitative document analysis of official U.S. statements, United Nations resolution, and peer-reviewed literature to show that although both administrations were bound by enduring strategic parameters, policies during the Trump administration reinforced the normalization of entrenchment in settlement, and further reduced the viability of negotiated conflict resolution. The article ends that the polarization of the United States has reduced the cohesion and trustworthiness of the American efforts in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.