Sarah Palin says she disagrees with the Obama administration’s demand that Israel halt settlement construction, although her reason for that opinion is puzzling (or at the least demonstrates she’s not familiar with the term "natural growth" that much of the debate has revolved around). She tells Barbara Walters that she disagrees with the White House because all the Jews moving to Israel need a place to live. From ABC News:
I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.
J Street responded by releasing a lengthy statement which condemned Palin’s comments and accused her of pandering and ignorance. An excerpt:
J Street rejects Sarah Palin’s comments attacking President Obama’s sensible policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank yesterday during an ABC News interview with Barbara Walters.
Palin’s pandering to her right-wing base comes at the expense of the security of the State of Israel, the lives of those actually living the conflict, and the fundamental American interest in achieving a two-state solution in the near term. Her words reveal a glaring ignorance of damaging facts and a callous disregard of past and present U.S. policy.
