US Ties Israeli Judicial Overhaul with Settlements in Palestinian Territories

Palestinians confront Israeli forces during a protest against a new settlement near Ramallah on March 10. (Reuters)
Palestinians confront Israeli forces during a protest against a new settlement near Ramallah on March 10. (Reuters)
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US Ties Israeli Judicial Overhaul with Settlements in Palestinian Territories

Palestinians confront Israeli forces during a protest against a new settlement near Ramallah on March 10. (Reuters)
Palestinians confront Israeli forces during a protest against a new settlement near Ramallah on March 10. (Reuters)

The US administration of US President Joe Biden welcomed the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay action on the judicial overhaul.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the Israeli decision is the best path for Israel and all its citizens to find this compromise.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu's conservative government has attempted to push through reforms to the judiciary that would effectively allow the government to choose judges of the country's top court.

After coming under much street pressure and international criticism, the PM decided to halt the reform and called for compromise talks with the center-left opposition.

A spokesman for the US State Department, Vedant Patel, said the move was "an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise," adding, "we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible."

Patel noted that "democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest base of popular support."

In response to the accusations that Washington somehow funded the protests against Netanyahu's government, the spokesman asserted that these claims are "completely and demonstrably false."

"The Movement of Quality Government is an NGO, and it received a modest grant from the State Department initiated during the previous administration."

He explained that the latest disbursal of funds came in September of 2022, before the most recent Israeli elections, indicating that "the department supports a wide range of programming by civil society actors around the world on strengthening awareness for human rights and democratic values."

The cautious statements reflect the Biden administration's aim to maintain communication with Netanyahu amid efforts by US officials to calm the tensions and violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

CIA Director William Burns recently warned that a third intifada could break out.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are pushing hard to approve the judicial overhaul and maintain settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that some measures make it "hard or maybe futile" for the United States to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Blinken said: "I can say that both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority want us to be involved and engaged in helping and supporting and working with them to try to get to this period of calm."

He added: "At some point if either or both sides are not doing what we believe is necessary to get there, it will be hard or maybe futile for us to do that."

The right-wing Israeli government recently introduced legislation that would pave the way for the re-establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank nearly 20 years after their disbandment.

A group of 92 US lawmakers sent a letter to Biden urging him to clarify that the US opposes any Israeli attempts to annex lands in the West Bank.

"Stripping the judiciary of its check on the governing coalition would empower far-right lawmakers seeking to entrench settlement of the West Bank and advance a pro-annexation agenda, undermining the prospects for a two-state solution and threatening Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state," the lawmakers wrote.



US Shifts $100 Million in Military Aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon to Bolster Ceasefire

Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Shifts $100 Million in Military Aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon to Bolster Ceasefire

Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese soldiers drive in Qana, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, southern Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.
In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government. The notices were dated Jan. 3 and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Most of the money will go to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which have a critical role in standing up the ceasefire that was agreed to in November following an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months.
It is intended to help the LAF deploy in the south of the country and supplement the role of the UN peacekeeping mission patrolling the so-called Blue Line, which has separated Israel and Lebanon since the end of a monthlong Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
“Successful implementation (of the ceasefire) will require an empowered LAF, which will need robust assistance from the United States and other partners,” the State Department said in the notices, both of which used nearly identical language to explain the funding shifts.
Both Israel and Hezbollah agreed to pull their forces out of southern Lebanon before the end of January, with compliance to be overseen by the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.
“US security assistance to the LAF increases its capacity as the country’s only legitimate military force and defender of Lebanon’s territorial integrity, enables the LAF to prevent potential destabilization from ISIS and other terrorist groups, and enables the LAF to provide security both for the Lebanese people and for US personnel,” the State Department said.
Pro-Israel members of Congress and others have in the past complained about any diversion of US assistance to Israel, although it was not immediately clear if there would be objections to such a small amount of shifted money.
At the same time, some of those who have been forceful advocates of Israel and critics of US assistance to the Lebanese military have often complained that it has been infiltrated by Hezbollah. The notices rejected that claim.
“US support to the LAF reinforces the LAF as an important institutional counterweight to Hezbollah, which receives weapons, training, and financial support from Iran,” the State Department said. “The LAF continues to be an independent, non-sectarian institution in Lebanon, and is respected across all sectors.”
In a third notice, also sent to Congress on Jan. 3, the department said it was going to provide $15 million to Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces to ensure that they become the primary law enforcement entity in the country and assist the LAF in controlling areas in the south.
That money will primarily be used to rebuild police stations, improve radio communications and purchase vehicles, the notice said.
The third notice also informed lawmakers that the administration would provide $3.06 million to the Palestinian Authority police to support its operations in the West Bank and $2.5 million to Jordan's Public Security Directorate to support its response to public demonstrations.