“I think the president is fundamentally uncomfortable not keeping promises,” said US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman in a May 23 interview on Israel’s Channel 10 television news, expressing pride in his boss and former bankruptcy client, US President Donald Trump. Indeed, unlike all of Trump's predecessors who promised on the campaign trail to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump has made good on his pledge. Previous presidents repeatedly signed waivers suspending the move, as mandated by a 1995 congressional act, arguing that it would be harmful to US national security interests. Trump himself signed off on two such waivers in his first year in office, in June and December 2017. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then apparently managed to convince him that not only does the embassy relocation not damage US security interests, it actually contributes to peace. At the inauguration of the embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, Netanyahu proclaimed, “I believe it’s a great day for peace.”

Netanyahu appears to believe that a decision to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, even as the Trump administration prepares to present its much-touted Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, also contributes to peace. Otherwise, why is such a fearless peace warrior lending a hand to promote new construction in the West Bank?

Several hours after Friedman told Israeli television viewers that Trump was determined to move forward with what he has dubbed the “ultimate deal” for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced that the planning authorities in Judea and Samaria, that is, the West Bank, would approve the building of 2,500 new housing units. They are to be located in the settlement towns of Maaleh Adumim and Ariel, as well as in several remote settlements outside the so-called settlement blocs. On the Facebook page of Yisrael Beitenu, Liberman pledged, “We will continue developing Judea and Samaria in practice.” He, too, obviously believes that developing Jewish settlements in areas where the Palestinians seek to create a state somehow contributes to peace.

Netanyahu’s office was quick to announce that the prime minister had spoken by phone with Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel and congratulated him on the upcoming plans. “We are continuing the momentum to develop settlements in Judea and Samaria by authorizing thousands of new homes,” Netanyahu told him. “In the near future we will approve additional units.”