The U.S. State Department has summoned the Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Herzog after his country repealed a 2005 law barring settlements in the occupied northern West Bank.
Herzog met with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman on Tuesday, according to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.
"The United States is extremely troubled that the Israeli Knesset has passed legislation rescinding important parts of the 2005 disengagement law," State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
"The legislative changes announced today are particularly provocative and counterproductive to efforts to restore some measure of calm as we head into the Ramadan, Passover and Easter holidays," he said.
Patel said the move was in "clear contradiction" of promises made by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon to then-US president George W. Bush as well as assurances made just two days ago by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"The US strongly urges Israel to refrain from allowing the return of settlers to the area covered by the legislation, consistent with former prime minister Sharon and the current Israeli government's commitment to the United States," he said.
Patel, however, stopped short of announcing any repercussions against Israel for its actions.
On Tuesday, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed the second and third readings of a bill to allow Israeli settlers to resettle in four settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The vote pushed by the hard-right government annulled part of a law that ordered the evacuation of the illegal outposts of Homesh, Ganim, Kadim, and Sa-Nur in the occupied territory in 2005.
The evacuation of the outposts was part of a disengagement plan implemented by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that saw Israel remove more than 9,000 settlers in 21 illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip and the occupied northern West Bank.
Estimates indicate about 650,000 settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.