US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were apparently asleep in class when Hagai Elad, Zahava Galon, Amos Shoken and Talia Sasson were conducting their lessons. Suddenly, according to Pompeo's declaration on Monday, it appears that the legality or illegality of Jewish settlements beyond the 1967 Green Line was nothing more than opinion – political opinion.
Essentially, as many pre-eminent Israeli legal scholars – among them late Chief Justice Meir Shamgar, Prof. Yehuda Blum, Meir Rosenne and others – argued in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, Jewish settlement up to the Jordan River is completely legal according to international law. I can only presume that Israeli representatives in Washington, such as Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and Dr. Dore Gold, have explained to Trump administration officials what international law actually says about the West Bank. What it says, and which is the position Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted, is that the West Bank is "disputed" territory, not "occupied" territory.
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Without a doubt, this is perhaps the most significant shift in American diplomatic policy toward Israel and the territories it liberated in 1967. Pompeo's announcement reverses the position espoused by previous US President Barack Obama. But this wasn't exclusively Obama's position. It was commonly accepted within the US State Department for years. Peter Beinart and his New York Times readership also won't love Pompeo's declaration.
This is proof that standing tenaciously for years on solid and consistent legal ground ultimately ends in international recognition. If Israel had surrendered to the views of the "new-wave" jurists, who created a propagandist and false presentation of the legal status of the territories in Judea and Samaria and Jordan Valley – even the most supportive administration, Trump's for example, wouldn't have lifted a finger on the matter. From this perspective, anyone who has argued and expounded on this legal and historical position over the years in American, international and local forums deserves credit for the Trump administration's diplomatic revolution.
What's needed now is the establishment of an Israeli government capable of providing significance and substance to the new American policy. The declaration further enhances Trump's policy, which he has been unfurling for three years now, whereby: The 1967 lines no longer represent a baseline for a future peace deal. This new policy does not negate or supersede the possibility of a deal with the Palestinians; but at the same time, it also doesn't prohibit Israel from possibly imposing its sovereignty over these strategic territories, which are so crucial to, or over specific settlement areas themselves. Israel's Supreme Court also recognizes the legality of these communities. The imperative for the country is a national unity or right-wing government capable of using this diplomatic gift. And it is a gift that in many ways is more important than moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Avigdor Lieberman, who holds the keys to the next government, must now add this profound development to his list of political considerations.
