Israeli settlement building must continue, Edelstein tells US envoy

Israeli settlement building must continue, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein told US Ambassador Tom Nides when the two men met on Wednesday.

"I presented to Ambassador Nides my clear position about the necessity in the territory of the settlements in Judea and Samaria," Edelstein wrote in a post he placed on his Facebook page after the visit.

He also spoke about the Temple Mount and defended National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to al-Aqsa Mosque compound on that site last week.

It was a move that was globally condemned as a violation of the status quo, in which visitors of all faiths can visit but only Muslims can pray there.

Israel has insisted that Ben-Gvir's visit was in keeping with those restrictions and Edelstein explained this to Nides.

"I clarified that the status quo is upheld and precisely because of that there is a need to deal with the Palestinian conduct that incites with all things relating to the Temple Mount," he said.

Yuli Edelstein: A strong supporter of the Israeli settlement movement

Edelstein, who is a former Knesset speaker, lives in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank and is a strong supporter of Israel's religious and historic right to that region.

As the head of the FADC, he will also be one of the new government's faces to the International community. Nides met with him in advance of two high-profile visits this month first by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and then by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Edelstein wrote that he and Nides discussed the importance of strengthening the relationship of the two countries based on shared values and interests.

But the Biden administration is at odds with Israel when it comes to settlement activity, which it opposes.

On Tuesday Nides told Israel's KAN News that "we want to keep a vision of a two-state solution alive and .. massive settlement growth will not accomplish that goal.. in which case we will oppose it and we will be very clear about our opposition."

British Minister of State for the Middle East Lord Tariq Ahmad who is in Israel and the Palestinian territories this week also voiced his opposition to Israeli West Bank settlement activity and to Ben-Gvir's Temple Mount visit. 

After his meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Ahmad said that in their conversation "I also encouraged all efforts to avoid provocative unilateral actions in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories, which only serve to undermine prospects for a lasting and peaceful solution.”

Ahmad also met with Palestinian Authority officials, including PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.

"I stressed our commitment to the Palestinian people [and] the bilateral relationship, [and] emphasized our concern at recent violence in the [occupied Palestinian territories] that fuels instability," he tweeted.

During his conversation with PA Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud al-Habbash, Ahmad pledged the UK's support for a peace process with Israel and said that "faith leaders can play in bringing about peace."

In tweeting about the meeting, he said, "I emphasized that the UK is ready to support any dialogue between the Palestinians and Israelis."