Is US aiding Israel in annexing West Bank with latest consular move?
US consular services in illegal Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank spark criticism, seen as a step toward legitimising Israeli control over occupied territory.
The US embassy in Jerusalem announced that it will provide passport and consular services inside an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, the first time this has happened.
Similar services are planned in another illegal settlement, Beitar Illit, as part of a broader outreach.
Historically, US consular services in the West Bank were offered in Palestinian cities like Ramallah, not inside illegal Israeli settlements.
A statement posted on the US embassy’s X account on Wednesday said consular officers “will be providing routine passport services” to US citizens on Friday in the occupied West Bank settlement of Efrat. The embassy called the services part of its “efforts to reach all Americans.”
An embassy spokesman insisted that the move did not represent a change in US policy.
But this move, while framed by the US as a service for American citizens abroad, carries political and diplomatic implications.
Critics, including Hamas, and international legal experts argue that providing official US government services inside illegal settlements de facto legitimises Israeli control over those areas, blurring lines between sovereign territory and occupied land.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the move and called it a “dangerous precedent” and “de facto recognition of the legitimacy of settlements and the occupation’s control over the West Bank”.
The Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission called the decision “a clear violation of international law and a blatant favouring of the occupation authorities.”
Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, the head of the commission, added it “entrenches a settlement reality that undermines the possibility of establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.”
On the Israeli left, human-rights lawyer Michael Sfard said, “This cannot be construed in any way other than as a political statement of legitimisation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” noting that Efrat is a “very small bedroom community” whose residents already rely on Jerusalem for services, the New York Times reported
Most of the world considers Israel's West Bank settlements illegal under international law relating to military occupations. Israel disputes that the settlements are illegal, and many on the Israeli right advocate annexing the occupied West Bank.
Former US ambassador Daniel C Kurtzer described it as reflecting “Israel’s galloping annexationist policies and actions in the occupied territories… make[ing] a mockery of Trump’s professed opposition to Israel’s annexation intentions,” while J Street executive Nadav Tamir said that “the Trump people are so focused on Gaza that they completely miss what’s happening to the West Bank”.
Palestinians have long sought the occupied West Bank for a future independent state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem.
This month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing cabinet approved measures making it easier for illegal Israeli settlers to seize Palestinian land.
US President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has said he opposes Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank. But his administration has not taken any measures to halt illegal settlement activity, which rights groups say has risen since he took office last year.
The US offers passport and consular services at its Embassy in Jerusalem as well as at a Tel Aviv branch office. The number of dual American-Israeli nationals living in the occupied West Bank is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
“We welcome the historic decision by the US embassy in Jerusalem to extend consular services to American citizens in Judea and Samaria,” Israel’s foreign ministry said on X, using the biblical name for the occupied West Bank.
Much of the West Bank is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu's ruling coalition, which has a large voter base in the illegal settlements, includes many members who want Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, land captured in 1967.
Efrat, the Jewish settlement where American consular officials will provide passport services on Friday, is home to many American immigrants. The US embassy said it did not have data on the number of Americans living there.
More than 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, home to 3.4 million Palestinians. Most illegal settlements are small towns surrounded by fences and guarded by Israeli soldiers.