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Israeli leader celebrating U.S. decision

ALON SHVUT, West Bank (AP) — Israel’s prime minister traveled to the West Bank on Tuesday to celebrate the U.S.’s announcement that it does not consider Israeli settlements as violations of international law.

Benjamin Netanyahu called the Trump administration’s declaration, which stepped back from four decades of U.S. policy and reversed the policies of President Barack Obama, a “huge achievement” that “fixed a historic wrong.”

“I think it is a great day for the state of Israel and an achievement that will remain for decades,” he said.

Netanyahu spoke at a gathering of ecstatic supporters and settler leaders in Alon Shvut, a settlement outside of Jerusalem.

Israeli right-wing leaders welcomed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement. Although it is largely symbolic, it fueled calls from settler supporters for increased construction or even the annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Later Tuesday, Netanyahu said the U.S. decision “gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to annex the Jordan Valley, an area in the West Bank seen as the breadbasket of a Palestinian state.

In a video, he called on his political rivals, with whom he is currently in coalition talks, to form a unity government and make annexing the area its first priority.

Netanyahu has previously vowed to annex the area, a move that would swallow up most of the West Bank territory sought by the Palestinians, leaving them with little more than isolated enclaves. Israel sees the territory as a security asset.

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