Israel Announces Big New Settlement Plan
KINKADE: Israel has just announced an expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The defense ministry says 2,500 new housing units have been approved. And Israel's prime minister is leaving no doubt that this type construction will continue. Benjamin Netanyahu writing on Twitter today, and I quote, "we are building and we will continue to build." This comes just days after Donald Trump took office. Well, let's get more from CNN's Oren Liebermann live from Jerusalem. Oren, under the last administration, Israel was warned time and time again that these new settlements would destroy the peace process, but Trump's victory essentially means full steam ahead there.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly seems like it for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said a new era is coming and that era is coming soon. It seemed clear then, and this is just a couple weeks ago that he was referencing President Donald Trump and it's even clearer now. Now that it seems he has the cover of the Trump administration, he's pushing forward these 2,500 new housing units. An announcement like this, that is to say, this big, this many units in the West Bank, hasn't been seen in years. It stunned all of us with its size. Now, the defense ministry says most of these are in the settlement blocks, but about 100 of these 2,500 units are in a Bet-el (ph), settlement just outside Ramallah that's now noteworthy because Donald Trump donated $10,000 to that settlement back in 2003. Will this continue? It certainly seems like it, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this is a time thoughtful diplomacy when it comes to bilateral relations,when it comes to settlements. This is the first step from Netanyahu. We'll see where he goes from here.</s>KINKADE: So, how is this announcement being received by the Israeli people, and do they feel that they now have the complete protection of the U.S.?</s>LIEBERMANN: The Israeli government does. Certainly this right wing government feels it has the protection of the U.S. Netanyahu himself was actually under right wing pressure to go beyond this. He was under pressure to annex parts of the West Bank, not just to build in settlements. That is pressure that he rebuffed. He decided to put off talks about annexation. Instead, he is building. He is building with this major annoucement. There are Israelis who are opposed to the settlements, but in terms of the Israeli government, the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this is their move. This is their priority. They've made it clear there is no more pro-settlement government in Israel than this one. It's impossible to put together a more pro-settlement government. And this is Netanyahu living up to his own promises about building in the settlements. Also noteworthy that this comes just one day after the Trump administration seemed to back off promises of moving the embassy, saying decisions there have yet to be made. Lynda, the Palestinian response came just a short while ago. They absolutely condemned this. they called on the international community to condemn it as well. They say, and this comes from Nabillah Abu Radaina (ph), the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, they said, quote, there will be consequences.</s>KINKADE: We'll wait and see what those consequences will be. Oren Lieberman live for us in Jerusalem. Thank you very much. Well, you can take almost everything you know about the world and put it in a box, but put it to the side, because Donald Trump is turning so much of what we know upside down. I'll look at how he could be rocket fuel to Brexit and totally shake up Europe with my next guest. Stay with us for that. As well as the Oscar nominations are revealed. Who is up for best picture and all the other big categories. That's just ahead on Connect the World.