US Politics
US says it will launch passport services in West Bank settlement
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The United States is set to offer on-site passport services this week within a West Bank settlement, US officials confirmed on Tuesday. This marks the first time American consular officials have extended such services directly to settlers in the occupied territory.
The majority of the international community deems Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal under international law pertaining to military occupations. Israel, however, disputes this classification, with many on the Israeli right advocating for the annexation of the West Bank.
Palestinians have long envisioned the West Bank as a core component of 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 settlers to seize Palestinian land.
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U.S. President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has said he opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank. But his administration has not taken any measures to halt settlement activity, which rights groups say has risen since he took office last year.
In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said that as part of efforts to reach all Americans abroad, “consular officers will be providing routine passport services in Efrat on Friday, February 27,” referring to a settlement south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
The Embassy said it would plan similar on-site services in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, in the settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem, and in cities within Israel such as Haifa.
The U.S. 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 West Bank is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
Asked for comment, an embassy spokesperson said: “This is the first time we have provided consular services to a settlement in the West Bank.” The spokesperson said similar services were being offered to American-Palestinian dual nationals in the West Bank.
Last week, Israel’s cabinet approved measures to tighten the country’s control over the West Bank and make it easier for settlers to buy land, a move Palestinians called a “de facto annexation”.
Much of the West Bank is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which has a large voter base in the settlements, includes many members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
Efrat, the Jewish settlement where American consular officials will provide passport services on Friday, is home to many American immigrants. The U.S. Embassy said it did not have data on the number of Americans living there.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, home to 3 million Palestinians. Most settlements are small towns surrounded by fences and guarded by Israeli soldiers.
