The U.S. State Department said it was “profoundly concerned” about a controversial bill that would help legalize West Bank outposts built on Palestinian land.
Asked about the measure, known as the Regulation Bill, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that the enactment of such a law is “profoundly damaging to the prospects for a two-state solution.”
“And we’ve also been troubled by comments that we’ve heard by some political figures in Israel that this would be the first step in annexing parts of the West Bank,” Toner said.
Toner added that passage of the bill “would be a dramatic advancement of the settlement enterprise, which is already, as we’ve said, greatly endangering the prospects for a two-state solution. But I also – as you note, it’s changing the reality on the ground, and we’re deeply concerned about it. We’re conveying those concerns. The legislation’s not yet passed into law. We hope that it does not become law, but we certainly hope that changes or modifications can be made to it.”