Blinken takes aim at Israeli settlements; says US will press ahead with Israel-Saudi normalization

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the expansion of Israeli settlements and ongoing demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank are taking Israel further away from peace with the Palestinians.  

Yet, he stressed that the U.S.-Israel relationship remains “iron-clad," lauded American security commitments to the Jewish state and said the Biden administration will continue to promote normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly with Saudi Arabia. 

At the same time, he made clear the administration's displeasure with actions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government has taken in expanding Jewish settlements and increasing Palestinian home demolitions. 

“Settlement expansion clearly presents an obstacle to the horizon of hope we seek,” Blinken said in a speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington.