JERUSALEM \u2014
Israel\u2019s prime minister on Sunday accepted an invitation to visit the White House next month in hopes of forging a \u201ccommon vision\u201d for the region with President Donald Trump that could include expanded settlement construction on occupied territories and a tougher policy toward Iran.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his plans to head to Washington hours after delaying a vote on an explosive proposal to annex one of the West Bank\u2019s largest settlements, apparently to coordinate his policy toward the Palestinians with the new administration.
The move put on hold legislation that threatens to unleash fresh violence and damage already faded hopes for Palestinian independence. It also may have marked Trump\u2019s first presidential foray into Middle East diplomacy.
After eight years of frosty relations with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu has welcomed Trump\u2019s election as an opportunity to strengthen ties between the two allies. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was gearing up plans to expand settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem \u2014 a policy that had been condemned by Obama.
Late Sunday, the two men held what Netanyahu\u2019s office described as a \u201cvery warm conversation\u201d by phone. It said they discussed the international nuclear deal with Iran, which both men have harshly criticized, and the Palestinian issue.
\u201cThe prime minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel,\u201d the statement said. It said a date for Netanyahu\u2019s visit would be finalized in the coming days.
With Trump signaling a more tolerant approach toward the much-maligned settlement movement, Israel\u2019s nationalist right now believes it has an ally in the White House, and Israeli hard-line leaders make no secret they will push for aggressive action in the occupied West Bank.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home Party, has been pushing Netanyahu to abandon the internationally backed idea of a Palestinian state and to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement near Jerusalem.
But after convening his Security Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said his Cabinet ministers, including Bennett, had decided \u201cunanimously\u201d to delay action on the annexation plan until he goes to Washington to meet with Trump.
In order to placate Bennett, Israeli media reports said Netanyahu had promised the ministers to clear the way for expanded settlement construction in east Jerusalem and in major West Bank settlement \u201cblocs\u201d that Israel hopes to keep under a future peace deal. He was quoted as saying his \u201cvision\u201d is to place all settlements under Israeli sovereignty.
In Washington, Trump described their phone call as \u201cvery nice.\u201d
Netanyahu, a longtime supporter of the settlements, has nonetheless been cautious about expanding them in the face of strong opposition from the international community. In a final showdown with Israel last month, the Obama administration allowed the U. N. Security Council to pass a resolution condemning settlements as illegal.
But Bennett and other hard-liners believe there is no longer any reason for restraint.
\u201cFor the first time in 50 years, the prime minister can decide: either sovereignty or Palestine,\u201d Bennett wrote on Twitter.
Annexing Maaleh Adumim, a sprawling settlement of nearly 40,000 people east of Jerusalem, could cause a major clash with the Palestinians and the rest of the international community.
The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem \u2014 areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war \u2014 for a future state. The Palestinians and the international community consider all settlements illegal, and unilaterally making Maaleh Adumim part of Israel would deal a powerful blow to hopes for a two-state solution.
To the Palestinians, it would be seen as undermining negotiations. Maaleh Adumim is also strategically located in the middle of the West Bank, potentially hindering the establishment of their state.
\u201cIf they are serious about making it part of Israel and closing it down, then it is actually cutting the West Bank into two,\u201d said Hagit Ofran of the anti-settlement group Peace Now.
While Trump has not expressed an opinion on the annexation, he has signaled a softer approach toward the settlement movement than any of his predecessors.
His designated ambassador to Israel has close ties to Jewish West Bank settlements, and a delegation of settler leaders attended Friday\u2019s inauguration as guests of administration officials.
Trump also has already said he supports one of Israel\u2019s key demands \u2014 moving the U. S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The president ignored a question Sunday from reporters about the issue.
The U. S., like other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv, saying the conflicting claims to Jerusalem must be worked out in negotiations.
Trump, however, faces heavy pressure from the Palestinians and Arab countries against moving the embassy. The fate of east Jerusalem, home to the city\u2019s most sensitive religious sites, is deeply emotional, and disagreements have boiled over into violence in the past.
The White House dispelled rumors that Trump had imminent plans to announce the move. It said it was only at the \u201cvery beginning\u201d of discussing plans to move the embassy.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sent a series of messages to Trump urging him not to move the embassy and warning that he would revoke recognition of Israel if the move takes place.
Abbas met Sunday with Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah II in Amman. Jordan, which serves as the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has warned that moving the embassy would cross a \u201cred line.\u201d Jordan is a key Israeli and Western ally in the battle against Islamic militants.
\u201cWe discussed the possibility of moving the embassy, and we say that if this thing happens, then we have measures that we agreed to implement together with Jordan,\u201d Abbas said. \u201cAnd we hope that the American administration will not do that.\u201d
Also Sunday, Jerusalem city officials granted building permits for 566 new homes in east Jerusalem. The permits had been put on hold for the final months of the Obama administration.
\u201cWe\u2019ve been through eight tough years with Obama pressuring to freeze construction,\u201d said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. \u201cI hope that era is over.\u201d
Unlike other West Bank settlements, Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers its neighborhoods inseparable parts of its capital. But the annexation is not internationally recognized.
Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdeneh and condemned the building plans and called on the U. N. to act. \u201cIt is time to stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law,\u201d he said.
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