Israel was gifted with an early Hanukkah present on Monday night when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that West Bank settlements are not illegal.
"Today, the United States adopted an important policy that rights a historical wrong when the Trump administration clearly rejected the false claim that Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria are inherently illegal under international law," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
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The office continued to add that the policy reflects a "historical truth" that corrects the narrative that Israel is a land of colonizers. Rather, that they are a people simply living in their homeland.
"The Trump administration policy is also correct in stating that those who have categorically denied any legal basis for the settlements not only deny truth, history and the reality on the ground, they also set back the cause of peace, which can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties," the statement added.
Other members of the right also rejoiced, with MK Ayelet Shaked (Yamina) calling for Israel to use this decree as an opportunity to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in the West Bank.
Thank you Pres @realDonaldTrump & @SecPompeo for recognizing that there is nothing illegal about Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria
The Jewish People have the legal & moral right to live in their ancient homeland
Now is the time to apply our sovereignty to these communities
— איילת שקד ayelet shaked (@Ayelet__Shaked) November 18, 2019
"Thank you President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for recognizing that there is nothing illegal about Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria. The Jewish People have the legal and moral right to live in their ancient homeland. Now is the time to apply our sovereignty to these communities," she tweeted.
A totally gratuitous move by a discredited @SecPompeo. Why slap the Palestinians in the face again? Why boost the settlement/annexation movement at the very moment that Gantz is trying to form a government? This has Friedman's fingerprints on it. https://t.co/cC4vhKwuQk
— Martin Indyk (@Martin_Indyk) November 18, 2019
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, too, praised the "bold move" and predicted it will help prevent future boycotts targeting products made in the West Bank.
The decision, which was in the works for weeks, comes on the heels of the EU mandating that all products made in the West Bank must be labeled as such. It was a move that many pro-Israel advocates decried as anti-Semitic.
Yishai Fleisher, Hebron's spokesperson, was equally grateful, saying, "THANK YOU President Trump and THANK YOU Secretary Pompeo and THANK YOU US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman for declaring that Jews living in ancestral Judea is natural, beautiful, historically correct - and certainly not illegal!!"
Even Blue and White MK Moshe Yaalon commended the decision. "I applaud the Americans on this historic decision, settlements in Judea and Samaria do not violate international law. Finally, what has always been clear to us has received a seal of approval. This is not a nation of occupiers!"
But not all Israelis welcomed the decision.
Leader of the Arab-led Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh dismissed the Trump administration's decree saying, "no foreign minister will change the fact that the settlements were built on occupied land on which a sovereign Palestinian state will be established by Israel's side."
Further, beyond Israel's borders, other officials slammed the news.
Martin Indyk, a peace envoy to Israel under US President Barack Obama called Pompeo's announcement a "totally gratuitous move by a discredited Pompeo."
"Why slap the Palestinians in the face again? Why boost the settlement/annexation movement at the very moment that Gantz is trying to form a government? This has Friedman's fingerprints on it," Indyk wrote.
Speaking of the Palestinians, PLO Executive Committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, blasted the move as "another blow to international law, justice & peace by a Biblical absolutist waiting for the 'rapture.'"
Palestinian Authority lated issued an official statement, saying: "The US administration has completely lost credibility and can no longer play any role in the peace process."
