Strategic Assessment

The issue of the Jewish settlements on the West Bank has long been a bone of contention between Israel and the United States, and has often strained the relationship between the two allies. However, America's longstanding opposition to the settlement enterprise has clearly not achieved its objective. In practice, the project has continued and expanded, and seems to have created an irreversible territorial and demographic reality in the Middle East. This article discusses whether the US administration might therefore question if and to what extent maintaining American opposition is liable to damage the status and prestige of the United States in the international community. More concretely, has the time come for a change in US policy on the issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank?