WarSclerotic

LONDON — More than 100 demonstrators are believed to have been killed across Iran since leaders ordered security forces to stamp out protests triggered by fuel price rises, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

“At least 106 protesters in 21 cities have been killed, according to credible reports,” the London-based rights group said.

It added that “the real death toll may be much higher, with some reports suggesting as many as 200 have been killed.”

The rights watchdog said the security forces had received a “green light to crush” the protests which broke out on Friday and had spread to more than 100 cities across Iran.

“Authorities must end this brutal and deadly crackdown immediately,” said Amnesty’s Philip Luther, whose organization based its report on “verified video footage, eyewitness testimony from people on the ground and information” from rights activists outside Iran.

Amnesty also urged Iranian authorities to “lift the near-total block on internet access designed to restrict the flow of information about the crackdown to the outside world.”

It said video footage showed that “snipers have also shot into crowds of people from rooftops and, in one case, a helicopter.”

Iranian protesters gather around a fire during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, on November 16, 2019. (AFP)

While most demonstrations appeared to have been peaceful, it said, “a small number of protesters turned to stone-throwing and acts of arson and damage to banks and seminaries.”

Security forces had been seen taking away dead bodies and injured people from roads and hospitals, according to witnesses, and refused to hand over bodies of victims to their families, Amnesty said.

A hike in petrol price sparked the protests in which Iran has officially confirmed at least five dead, including three security personnel allegedly stabbed to death by “rioters.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations voiced alarm over reports of a mounting death toll.

Iran’s shock decision to impose petrol price hikes last Friday sparked the protests in which the official toll says five people were confirmed to have been killed, three of them security personnel who officials say were stabbed to death by “rioters.”

The UN rights office said it was alarmed by reports live ammunition was used against protesters and had caused a “significant number of deaths across the country.”

But its spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that casualty details were hard to verify, in part because of the internet shutdown now in its third day.

“Iranian media and a number of other sources suggest dozens of people may have been killed and many people injured during protests in at least eight different provinces, with over 1,000 protesters arrested,” he said.

“We urge the Iranian authorities and security forces to avoid the use of force to disperse peaceful assemblies.”

Iranian protesters gather around a burning car during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, on November 16, 2019. (AFP)

Colville also called on protesters to demonstrate peacefully, “without resorting to physical violence or destruction of property.”

AFP journalists saw two petrol stations in Tehran gutted by fire and damage to infrastructure, including a police station.

They were prevented from filming as hundreds of riot police guarded squares with armoured vehicles and water cannon.

State television showed footage of rallies against “rioting” held in the northwestern city of Tariz and Shahr-e Qods, west of Tehran.

“Protesting is the people’s right, rioting is the work of enemies,” they chanted in Tabriz, according to Fars news agency.

Knives and machetes

When the demonstrations began on Friday, drivers stopped on major thoroughfares in Tehran to block traffic.

The protests soon turned violent and spread to more than 40 cities and towns, with banks, petrol stations and other public property set ablaze and shops looted.

The demonstrations erupted after it was announced the price of petrol would be raised by 50 percent for the first 60 liters purchased over a month and 200 percent for any extra fuel after that.

Iran’s economy has been battered since May last year when the United States unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 nuclear agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions.

Iranians gather around a charred police station that was set ablaze by protesters during a demonstration against a rise in gasoline prices in the central city of Isfahan on November 17, 2019. (AFP)

Footage of masked young men clashing with security forces has been broadcast on state television, which rarely shows any signs of dissent.

In a video aired Monday night, a man can be seen firing what appears to be an assault rifle as others hurl stones apparently at security forces in the western city of Andimeshk.

In the latest bloodshed, assailants wielding knives and machetes ambushed and killed three security personnel west of Tehran, news agencies reported late Monday.

One was Morteza Ebrahimi, a commander of the Revolutionary Guards and father of a newborn child, according to Fars.

The others were Majid Sheikhi, 22, and Mostafa Rezaie, 33. Both served in the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the establishment.

It is the worst violence since at least 25 lives were lost in protests over economic hardship that started in Iran’s second city Mashhad in December 2017 before spreading to other urban centers.

In response to the latest violence, the authorities say they have arrested hundreds of people.

Internet abuse

Iran said on Tuesday the internet will only be unblocked when authorities are sure it will not be misused.

“The internet will come back gradually in some provinces where there are assurances the internet will not be abused,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said.

The outage has stemmed the flow of videos shared on social media of protests or associated acts of violence.

Netblocks, a website that monitors global net shutdowns, said internet connectivity in Iran was at four percent on Tuesday compared with normal levels.

“Sixty-five hours after #Iran implemented a near-total internet shutdown, some of the last remaining networks are now being cut,” it tweeted.

An Iranian man checks a scorched gas station that was set ablaze by protesters during a demonstration against a rise in gasoline prices in Eslamshahr, near the Iranian capital of Tehran, November 17, 2019. (AFP)

Iran announced the decision to impose petrol price hikes and rationing at midnight Thursday-Friday, saying it was aimed at helping the needy.

The plan, agreed by the president, parliament speaker and judiciary chief, comes at a sensitive time ahead of February parliamentary elections.

It has received the public support of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

President Hassan Rouhani has defended the price hike, saying the proceeds will go to 60 million Iranians.

Meanwhile, the US has condemned Iran for using “lethal force”.

Iran hit back, slamming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he tweeted “the United States is with you” in response to the demonstrations.

Iran’s judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, warned the authorities would deal firmly with those who endanger security and carry out arson attacks.

He also called on citizens to inform on “seditionists” who have committed acts of violence.

Officials say some of those arrested have confessed to being trained inside and outside Iran and having “received money” to set fire to public buildings.

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday morning said it was girding for several possible Iranian responses to its overnight airstrikes on the Islamic Republic’s Quds Force in Syria, from total calm to a full-scale attack.

“We are preparing for defense and attack, and we will respond to any attempt to retaliate,” IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman told reporters first thing Wednesday morning.

“We are ready for three scenarios: no response, a minor response, and a more significant response,” he said.

Save for minor air defense reinforcements, there were no significant changes to the IDF’s deployments in northern Israel on Wednesday morning. The IDF Home Front Command also did not put in place any safety restrictions on residents of the north.

In the predawn hours of Wednesday morning, the Israeli Air Force launched a large reprisal airstrike operation, targeting dozens of Iranian and Syrian military sites in Syria in response to a rocket attack on northern Israel the day before.

Syrian media indicated that there were civilian casualties during the overnight strikes.

Video footage from Syria appeared to show a Syrian air defense missile crashing to the ground in a heavily populated area shortly after launching, which may account for the civilian casualties.

“In the morning, we’ll get a better picture of their casualties,” Zilberman said.

“The attack was carried out in response to the launching of the rockets by the Iranian Quds Force from Syrian territory,” the army said in a statement.

Israel has repeatedly said that it will not accept Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and that it will retaliate for any attack on the Jewish state from Syria.

Zilberman said the military targeted both “the host, Syria, and the guest, Iran.”

A large explosion is seen over the Damascus skyline in footage purportedly taken on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, November 20, 2019 (video screenshot)

Israel has repeatedly warned Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to not intervene during IDF strikes on Iranian targets in his country or else his military will also be targeted, as was the case Wednesday.The Syrian targets of the strike included modern air defense systems, which were put into operation in the past 10 years, as well as command centers and weapons caches, the IDF spokesman said.

The IAF did not target Syria’s Russian-made advanced S-300 anti-aircraft batteries due to the presence of Russian troops in their vicinity. It was not clear whether S-300s had fired on the Israeli aircraft.

The IAF bombed an Iranian command center at the Damascus International Airport and logistics sites used by Iran to transport weapons through the country.

The IDF said it coordinated its aerial campaign with Moscow through the deconfliction mechanism the two countries established in light of Russia’s significant military presence in Syria.

Zilberman said the targets of its strikes were all located within 80 kilometers of Israel’s border and were focused around Damascus and the Syrian Golan Heights.

“Our message to the leaders of Iranian is simple: You are not immune anymore. Wherever you send your octopus arms — we will hack them off,” said newly installed Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the strike: “I have made clear that any who attack us, we will attack them. That is what we did tonight toward military targets of the Iranian Quds Force and Syrian military targets.”

Footage circulated on social media and Syrian state television showed nighttime explosions along the Damascus skyline and apparent Syrian attempts to intercept the incoming Israeli missiles.

The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying: “At 1:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes… targeted the vicinity of the city of Damascus with a number of missiles. Our air defense confronted the heavy attack and intercepted the hostile missiles, and was able to destroy most of them before reaching their targets.”

Syrian authorities regularly claims to destroy most missiles in such attacks, though the veracity of such assertions is questionable. The Israeli military acknowledged being targeted by Syrian air defenses during the assault and said it destroyed several anti-aircraft missile batteries in response.

SANA added that the attack was carried out from “Lebanese and Palestinian territories.” Israel sometimes launches its strikes on Syria from planes flying over neighboring Lebanon.

The Quds Force is a part of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps responsible for extraterritorial operations, and is a key actor in Syria — both against rebels and in Tehran’s efforts to entrench itself along Israel’s border and threaten the Jewish state from there.

Early Tuesday morning Israel’s anti-missile defense system intercepted four rockets fired from Syria toward the Golan Heights.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. (YouTube screenshot)

Shortly afterwards blasts were heard near Damascus International Airport, the official SANA news agency reported. The agency gave no further details, but its statement came shortly after the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted the rockets fired from Syria.

Some Syrian outlets speculated that the blasts were an Israeli airstrike, while others said it may have been the sound of the rockets being launched at Israel.

The rockets triggered sirens in the northern Golan Heights and Galilee region at 4:52 a.m., sending residents rushing to bomb shelters.

Last week Syrian state media reported that an Israeli strike hit the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist in Damascus, Akram al-Ajouri, killing his son and another person. Islamic Jihad accused Israel of being behind the strike in Damascus. The Israeli army refused to comment.

On the same day, an Israeli airstrike killed Islamic Jihad military commander Baha Abu Al-Ata, whom Israel blamed for recent rocket fire into its territory, in a strike on his home in Gaza City. Around 450 rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the military operation against Abu Al-Ata, according to the Israeli army, as the military struck back at Islamic Jihad targets. A ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad was reached after 50 hours of clashes, but the deal remains precarious.

Screen capture from video showing the delivery of Russian S-300 air defense missiles to Syria. (YouTube)

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against Iranian targets over the last several years, but does not generally comment on specific attacks. Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah and Gaza terrorists.

In August, in a rare announcement, the IDF said it had targeted sites in the town of Aqrabah, southeast of Damascus, near the city’s airport to foil what it said was an imminent armed drone attack on Israel by Iran-backed fighters.

In January Israel was said to have conducted a daylight missile attack on Iranian targets at the airport. Iran responded by firing a surface-to-surface missile at the northern Golan Heights, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the Mount Hermon ski resort, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Times of Israel staff and AFP contributed to this report.

Three members of the Iranian security forces have been stabbed to death by “rioters” near Tehran, the ISNA and Fars news agencies reported late Monday.

The assailants wielding knives and machetes ambushed the three — a Revolutionary Guard and two members of the Basij militia — west of the capital, the news agencies reported.

The deaths take to at least five the number of people confirmed to have been killed in violent demonstrations that erupted across Iran on Friday against a surprise gas price hike.

One of the three was identified as Morteza Ebrahimi, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Fars.

The other two were Majid Sheikhi, 22, and Mostafa Rezaie, 33. Both served in the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the establishment.

State television said a ceremony would be held for Ebrahimi and Rezaie in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon.

Four projectiles were fired at northern Israel from Syria in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said. All four were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

The Israeli military believes the rockets were fired by Iran or one of its proxies.

“Four launches were seen from Syrian territory toward Israeli territory that were shot down by soldiers operating the Iron Dome missile defense system,” the military said in a statement.

The army said it was unlikely that any projectiles had landed inside Israel’s borders. The apparent attack triggered sirens in the northern Golan Heights and Galilee region at 4:52 a.m., sending residents rushing to bomb shelters.

The use of the Iron Dome, as opposed to Israel’s other longer-range defense systems, indicated that the incoming projectiles were short-range rockets. This could not be immediately confirmed.

Minutes after Syrian official news agency SANA reported that explosions were heard near the Damascus airport. The state media outlet did not elaborate on what caused the blasts.

Some Syrian outlets speculated that this was an Israeli airstrike, while others said this may have been the sound of the rockets being launched at Israel.

Israel refuses to comment on the specifics of its operations against Iran in Syria.

The apparent early morning rocket attack came after the Israeli military warned that it believed Iran intended to take more aggressive actions in the region.

After the incident, the Golan Regional Council said no special safety precautions would be put in place, following consultations with the military. The authorities urged residents to keep to their routines.

On November 12, Akram al-Ajouri, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, was targeted in Damascus in an attack that was blamed by some on Israel. Islamic Jihad said Ajouri survived the attack, but his son was killed.

Two rockets targeted the home of al-Ajouri, “killing his son Muadh and another person,” SANA said. Ajouri’s bodyguard was the other man killed, Hebrew media reported. Six others were said injured.

That incident came less than an hour after Israel announced it had killed Baha Abu al-Ata, a top commander of the Iran-aligned Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Subsequently, the IDF and the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad terror group engaged in 48 hours of heavy fighting that saw some 450 rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel, which responded with many retaliatory strikes in Gaza

The IDF declined to comment on the Damascus attack.

The northern border has been relatively quiet since the Hezbollah terror group fired several anti-tank guided missiles at an army base and a military jeep just inside northern Israel’s border with Lebanon in September, causing no injuries.

On Monday the army launched a two-day surprise military exercise in northern Israel, the IDF said.

Large numbers of aircraft, vehicles and IDF troops were taking part in the drill, which is designed to test the preparedness of the Northern Command, a military spokesperson said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is seen by the IDF as one of its most formidable enemies, with an arsenal of rockets and missiles larger than that of most countries. Israel and Hezbollah last fought a war in 2006, though recent years have seen numerous cross-border exchanges of fire and Israel has targeted dozens of Hezbollah shipments in airstrikes in Lebanon and Syria.

US Democratic presidential candidates, including frontrunners Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, on Monday condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement that the Trump administration was softening its position on Israeli settlements.

Pompeo told reporters at the State Department that “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law,” breaking with decades of US policy.

Former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign called the move “an obstacle to peace.”

“This decision harms the cause of diplomacy, takes us further away from the hope of a two-state solution, and will only further inflame tensions in the region. It’s not about peace or security. It is not about being pro-Israel. It is about undercutting Israel’s future in service of Trump’s personal politics,” Biden’s campaign told Jewish Insider.

Vermont Senator Sanders denounced the move, saying that “Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal. This is clear from international law and multiple United Nations resolutions. Once again, Mr. Trump is isolating the United States and undermining diplomacy by pandering to his extremist base.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at the J Street National Conference, with the ‘Pod Save the World’ hosts Tommy Vietor, left, and Ben Rhodes, October 28, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts senator who is vying with Sanders for the more progressive voters in the party, similarly condemned the announcement.

“Another blatantly ideological attempt by the Trump administration to distract from its failures in the region. Not only do these settlements violate international law — they make peace harder to achieve. As president, I will reverse this policy and pursue a two-state solution,” Warren said.

Pete Buttigieg, the centrist mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and another leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, said the decision undermined peace efforts.

“The Trump administration’s statement on West Bank settlements is not only a significant step backward in our efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is the latest in a pattern of destructive decisions that harm our national interests,” Buttigieg said.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, South Bend, Ind. mayor, address the National Action Network (NAN) convention, Thursday April 4, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota senator who is not among the leading candidates, said that the decision “goes against long-standing US policy. Once again Donald Trump is playing politics and taking us further away from a path to a two-state solution.”

Liberal Democratic lawmakers Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, both frequent critics of Israel, also castigated the White House following the announcement.

“Israel’s settlements in the West Bank violate international law. No matter what this corrupt and immoral Trump regime (yeah he is a lawless king-like dictator) say, it doesn’t change that fact. #FreePalestine & #ImpeachmentTrumpNow,” Tlaib, a House Representative from Michigan, wrote on Twitter.

Minnesota Congresswoman Omar said that “Israeli settlements violate [international] law, decades of US foreign policy, and the human rights of Palestinians. All who believe in the possibility of peace must speak up in this moment.”

In this July 15, 2019, file photo, US Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, right, speaks as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, listens during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Some Republican lawmakers came out in favor of the move.

“This announcement is a repudiation of President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s ill-informed efforts to target Israeli presence in the West Bank. While I strongly support a two-state solution, I believe the Trump Administration’s announcement today will ultimately advance the cause of peace over time,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said the decision helped reverse the “disgraceful legacy” of the Obama administration’s policy toward Israel.

“For too long, the US has been slow to acknowledge the basic reality that our Israeli allies have sovereignty over their territories, and today the administration took steps to right that wrong,” Cruz said.

Pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC said that it “does not take a position on settlements. We believe settlements should be an issue for direct negotiations between the parties, not something determined by international bodies. The Palestinians must stop their boycott of US & Israeli officials and return to direct talks.”

US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft wrote on Twitter following the announcement: “While #Israel is surrounded by neighbors who seek its destruction, the international community has the audacity to make this nation the subject of its harshest criticism. I will not stand for this, today or any day.”

“To be clear, the United States remains fully committed to the cause of peace. Today’s announcement does not alter this fact. And just as we are committed to peace, we are committed to #Israel,” Craft wrote.

Human Rights Watch said in response to the announcement that “Israeli settlements remain war crimes.”

“This changes nothing. President Trump can’t wipe away decades of established international law that settlements are a war crime. The US has long benefited from adherence to the laws of war and should not abandon that, especially at the expense of Palestinian civilians,” said Andrea Prasow, the nonprofit’s acting Washington director.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America’s Executive Director Halie Soifer said Pompeo’s “reversal of decades of US policy is a green light for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, which will permanently impede prospects for a two state solution.” She said Trump “doesn’t understand what it means to be pro-Israel and Jewish voters reject his recklessness.”

The liberal Mideast policy organization J Street described the move as a “destructive gift” to the Israeli right, and accused Washington of “shattering America’s limited remaining credibility in the region and around the world.”

“This announcement is just the latest in a long series of actions by the Trump administration designed to aid the Israeli settlement movement, prevent a two-state solution and provide political gifts to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” J Street head Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement.

“The timing of this announcement can only be read as last-ditch attempt to boost the prime minister’s personal prospects,” Ben-Ami added, referring to Netanyahu’s struggle to remain in office following inconclusive elections, as well as the three corruption cases facing the prime minister.

View of the settlement of Elazar, in the West Bank, on February 5, 2019. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer praised the shift in US policy.

“In rejecting the foundational lie that the Jewish people are foreign colonialists in our own homeland, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo and US Ambassador to Israel Friedman have made an essential contribution to the advance of peace,” Dermer tweeted.

Pompeo made the statement in a Monday press conference at the State Department, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood.

The secretary of state repudiated a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The move angered Palestinians and immediately put the US at odds with other nations working to end the conflict.

The Trump administration views the opinion, the basis for long-standing US opposition to expanding the settlements, as a distraction and believes any legal questions about the issue should be addressed by Israeli courts, Pompeo said.

US moves that have weakened Palestinian efforts to achieve statehood have included Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the transfer of the US embassy to that city, and the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington. Those moves have been widely, though not universally, welcomed in Israel.

Even though the latest decision is largely symbolic, it could give a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival after he was unable to form a coalition government following recent elections.

In addition, it could spell further trouble for the administration’s oft-promised peace plan, which is unlikely to gather much international support by endorsing a position contrary to the global consensus.

Trump himself has not yet made a statement on the changed policy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief challenger Benny Gantz both lauded the US decision to repudiate its official legal opinion that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal Monday night.

Netanyahu said the decision, announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to back off the US stance that settlements are illegal under international law, was “righting a historical wrong.”

“This policy reflects a historical truth — that the Jewish people are not foreign colonialists in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring referring to the West Bank by its biblical name.

Netanyahu lauded Pompeo’s pronouncement that the US would defer to Israel’s courts to determine the legality of settlements.

“Israel’s legal system, which has proven itself fully capable of addressing legal questions related to the settlements, is the appropriate place for these matters to be adjudicated — not biased international forums that pay no attention to history or facts,” he said.

“Israel remains ready and willing to conduct peace negotiations with the Palestinians regarding all final status issues in an effort to achieve a durable peace, but will continue to reject all arguments regarding the illegality of the settlements,” he said.

A senior Israeli official told reporters on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu had been pushing for the policy change “for a number of months.”

The issue was advanced in cooperation with the National Security Council and the department for international law at the attorney general’s office, the official said.

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz similarly lauded the US decision announced by Pompeo.

“The fate of the settlements and the residents of Judea and Samaria should be determined by agreements that meet security requirements and that can promote a peace that will serve both sides while reflecting the reality on the ground,” Gantz wrote in a tweet.

Moshe Ya’alon, who represents the most right-wing flank of Blue and White, also praised the decision.

Both the right-wing Netanyahu and centrist Gantz say they support continued settlement building, and both have expressed support for annexation of the Jordan Valley, a corridor of land where the West Bank meets Jordan.

Netanyahu, who is stuck in a political deadlock with Gantz as moribund coalition talks have dragged on, used Pompeo’s announcement to campaign against his rival.

A screenshot of Gantz’s post was shared by Netanyahu’s spokesman who highlighted the words “both sides,” in an apparent mockery of the Blue and White chairman’s concern for Palestinians as well as Israelis.

Netanyahu also used the opportunity to once again attack Blue and White for allegedly working toward forming a minority government that would rely on outside support from the majority-Arab Joint List. The Likud chairman renewed his claim that the Joint List lawmakers are supporters of terror in a video statement responding to the Pompeo announcement.

Several senior right-wing lawmakers, including New Right No. 2 Ayelet Shaked, said that the policy shift should be used as a springboard off of which Israel should move to annex the West Bank.

“Now is the time to apply our sovereignty to these communities,” Shaked said in a statement. “The Jewish People have the legal & moral right to live in their ancient homeland.”

“There is no doubt around the rights of the nation of Israel in the Land of Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz (Likud) said in a statement.

Justice Minister Amir Ohana (also Likud) said the move “recognizes the Israeli nation’s connection to the Land of Israel and the deep connection between the two leaders, Netanyahu and Trump.”

Amir Peretz, head of the center-left Labor-Gesher faction, said the US move would make it harder for Israel to reach a two-state deal with the Palestinians.

“Generations of Israelis have been paying the price of the conflict, which is a strategic problem for Israel, not America. The assertion that the settlements are legal will give legitimacy for millions of Palestinians to demand full citizenship and equal rights. It’s either two states or one that is non-Zionist and non-Jewish. There is no third option,” he said.

Elsewhere on the left side of the political spectrum, responses were also less positive.

Democratic Camp chairman Nitzan Horowitz called the US announcement “wrong and harmful” asserting that settlements are a “central obstacle to peace.”

“They are illegal according to any definition of international law and harm Israeli interests as well as the Palestinians, of course. The United States should have called for a cessation of construction in the settlements and an immediate renewal of the peace process. There is no other solution to the conflict except for the two-state solution,” Horowitz said in a statement.

Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of predominantly Arab parties in the Knesset, wrote on Twitter that the US change in policy toward West Bank settlements will not “change the fact that the settlements were built on occupied land upon which an independent Palestinian state will be founded alongside Israel.”

Pompeo in a press conference declared that the US was softening its position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood.

The secretary of state repudiated a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are “inconsistent with international law.” The move angered Palestinians and immediately put the US at odds with other nations working to end the conflict.

The Trump administration views the opinion, the basis for long-standing US opposition to expanding the settlements, as a distraction and believes any legal questions about the issue should be addressed by Israeli courts, Pompeo said.

US moves that have weakened Palestinian efforts to achieve statehood have included President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the movement of the US embassy to that city, and the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, condemned Pompeo’s announcement and said settlements are illegal under international law. “The US administration has lost its credibility to play any future role in the peace process,” he said.

Even though the decision is largely symbolic, it could give a boost to Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival after he was unable to form a coalition government following recent elections.

In addition, it could spell further trouble for the administration’s oft-promised peace plan, which is unlikely to gather much international support by endorsing a position contrary to the global consensus.

Yesha settlement umbrella council foreign envoy and Efrat Local Council chairman Oded Revivi told The Times of Israel that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was personally involved in initiating the policy change over the past several weeks and months. Friedman is known for his close ties to the settlement movement and served as the chairman of the American Friends of Beit El organization before becoming ambassador.