Underlining his reliance on extremist coalition partners to remain in power, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government approved a major expansion of settlements in the West Bank on Thursday. The decision, orchestrated in part by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, obviously aims to serve settlers and the settler expansionist agenda. However, it undermines Israeli and, because of Israel‘s close relationship with America, U.S. relations with moderate Palestinians and close Middle Eastern allies.

Israel seized control over the West Bank from Jordan following a war with Egypt and Jordan in 1967. While Egypt precipitated that war with growing threats to Israel’s existence, the international community, including the United States, with the exception of the first and second Trump administrations, has viewed the subsequent creation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal.