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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Israel is taking new steps to exert more control in the occupied West Bank. They're changing the rules in a region that already lives under complicated regulations. Some areas are controlled directly by Israelis. Others have limited jurisdiction by the millions of Palestinians who live there. Now Israel is changing the rules in those areas in ways that feel to some like Israel is formally annexing the territory that it has long occupied. The Trump administration is saying the president does not support that. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a series of sweeping measures for the West Bank. One measure would make it easier for the government and Jewish settlers to purchase real estate there for future Israeli settlement. Israel is also taking more control over two ancient religious sites in Palestinian areas, stripping planning powers from the Palestinian Authority. And Israeli enforcement agencies will now enter areas under Palestinian self-governance to act, for instance, against environmental hazards.
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BEZALEL SMOTRICH: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: Israeli Cabinet Minister and West Bank settler Bezalel Smotrich visited a Palestinian garbage dump to promote the new moves. He spoke to settler media outlet Channel 7. He says these new measures kill the idea of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The United Nations secretary-general called to reverse the moves, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
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STEPHANE DUJARRIC: The Secretary-General warns that the current trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospects for a two-state solution.
ESTRIN: The Palestinian Authority called on the U.N. Security Council to intervene. Arab and Muslim countries condemned the move, including close allies of President Trump, like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They said Israel was accelerating attempts at illegal annexation. In a statement, the Trump administration says the president does not support annexing the West Bank. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said Israel is doing everything but annexing in name, while U.S. officials are focused on Iran and Gaza.
SHLOMO BEN-AMI: So long as they do not annex legally and say, OK, this is ours, Trump doesn't see any reason to intervene.
ESTRIN: Ben-Ami took part in peace talks with Palestinians in the year 2000 but says Israel's actions in the West Bank mean the two-state solution is dead.
BEN-AMI: Those of us who fought for peace with the Palestinians believe that this is suicidal for Israel.
ESTRIN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not speaking about these West Bank moves at all as he heads to the White House for a meeting Wednesday with President Trump to talk about Iran.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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