Israel must protect West Bank’s Palestinians amid settler pogroms: US envoy | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Meanwhile, Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, told Al Jazeera that Huckabee’s visit to the West Bank is “largely symbolic … because his visit, as much as it is covered by the media, is not going to change American policy”.

Huckabee has labelled some of the settlers committing violence as “terrorists”, which is a “clear message”, Pinkas said, particularly coming from an evangelical Christian who “believes in the Jewish rights over the West Bank”.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration “doesn’t seem to care enough” about settler pogroms or the rights of Palestinians for it to “actually pressure the Israeli government”, Pinkas said.

Settler pogroms in the West Bank have ⁠risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, the most right wing in Israel’s history, took office in late 2022.

Settlements have also increased, despite being illegal under international law, with Israel advancing its plan for 627 settler units in the occupied West Bank, deepening its efforts to sever Palestinian ties to Jerusalem.